Double dose of good news for Gloucester
Q - working hard
By Cherry Picker
November 12 2008
Double good news for Gloucester – the Guinness Premiership is back after a lengthy break, and the “Q here” signs are about to go up again. This time the Q stands for Akapusi Qera, who is making good progress along with Gareth Delve as the pair recover from the knee ligament injuries they suffered during summer internationals.
But Delve (right), Qera and hooker Ross McMillan will have to wait until January for their comeback games, while those Kingsholm players who are fit have a Sunday date away to Saracens as the bread and butter games return following the break for EDF and Heineken Cup matches.
The last GP game was the 39-23 win over Newcastle on September 30, while last weekend, of course, the players had a weekend off as coach Dean Ryan continued his inquest into the poor display in the single-point EDF win at Newcastle.
Hopefully, while he was on that job, he has also been trying to solve the inconsistency problem which has hit Glaws this season.
Yes, injuries haven’t helped, and now international calls are going to complicate matters further, though of course that affects most clubs at this time of year. But the truth is, Glaws have disappointed more than they have thrilled this season, and it's time for that to change.
Further good news for Gloucester is that Wales have not picked scrum-half Gareth Cooper for the weekend game against Canada, though there is frustration for the likes of Scotland’s Alasdair Strokosch (right), who has not been included in the Scotland squad, but is retained as cover. So the chances are he’ll be kicking his heels over the weekend.Delve, who has set his own target to be one of the best in the world when he is fully fit, has been working with Q for weeks and he told the Citizen: He said: "I can't wait to see his first hit when he gets back. He hasn't really done proper strength training before, so he has really bulked up."Add that to the explosive game we saw from him last season and it could be something special."
The pair, as well as hooker McMillan, who also has a knee ligament injury, have worked together to get fit all season so far. January can't come soon enough for all of them, or for Glaws.