Leinster senior coach Jacques Nienaber fears the worst for Caelan Doris after the back-rower left the pitch in the defeat to Northampton Saints in the Investec Champions Cup.
The Irish club confirmed on Monday that the Ireland captain will undergo a procedure this week after sustaining a shoulder injury which forced him off the pitch in the 56th minute of the semi-final.
The full extent of his injury and the implications for the British and Irish Lions tour would only be confirmed after the procedure but Nienaber’s ‘gut feel’ is that it is a serious one.
Fingers crossed for Doris
Doris has been widely tipped to be named as the captain for the Lions tour, with Andy Farrell naming his squad on Thursday but Nienaber is unsure whether the number eight will be fit for the trip to Australia.
“On Caelan, he saw a specialist and there is some further investigation that needs to be done, but fingers crossed that things aren’t as bad as we think,” he told reporters on Monday.
“In the last couple of months that I’ve worked with Caelan, he is not a guy that comes off a pitch with an injury. So, subjectively, when I saw him come off the pitch on Saturday, in my mind I thought that must be quite serious.
“We’ll probably know more towards the back end of the week. But my gut, and it’s only my gut, says that it might be serious but fingers crossed it might not be.”
The former Springboks head coach adds that a shoulder injury can be tricky with the length of time entirely dependent on the amount of damage.
Caelan Doris’ British and Irish Lions involvement thrown in doubt after worrying Leinster update
“We are not 100% sure”
He suggests that it could be anywhere from a few weeks to several months but adds that the fact that Doris came off the pitch is not a great sign.
“It’s difficult for me to comment on the selection piece [for the Lions] but it will definitely be a race [against time],” he continued.
“A shoulder injury depends on the amount of structural damage there is, I mean it can be anything from a two-month thing to six weeks versus four to six months. So depending on the amount of damage within the shoulder joint and all the structures involved there, that will determine the length.
“We are not 100% sure, we know there is damage, we are just not sure how much damage there is.
“As I said, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him leave the field since I’ve been here, except if we decide to take him off but in my time here, he has never come off the field with an injury which wasn’t serious.”
With Doris’ involvement with the Lions now in doubt, lock Maro Itoje is seen as the frontrunner to captain the side after impressing in the leadership role with England during the Six Nations.
It would be Itoje’s third tour with the invitational team having featured in the 2017 and 2021 tours to New Zealand and South Africa, respectively.
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Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/jacques-nienaber-hopes-his-gut-feeling-about-caelan-doris-injury-is-wrong
