Gloucester Rugby: Knee injury blow for Tim Taylor

KNEE trouble could rule fly-half Tim Taylor out for the rest of the season, fears Gloucester boss Nigel Davies.

The 30-year-old outside-half is still undergoing tests on his knee problem, but Kingsholm rugby director Davies is concerned he may not feature again this term.

Still hoping for better news, Davies conceded the initial outlook is not too rosy.

This knee injury is wretched timing for the former Nottingham playmaker: England call-ups for Billy Twelvetrees and Freddie Burns would have provided openings for Taylor during the upcoming Six Nations.

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Davies remains confident the Gloucester squad boasts provision to handle the potential absence of the Cherry and Whites' impressive playmaking duo Twelvetrees and Burns.

And that feeling is certainly boosted by the return to full fitness of Ryan Mills, Henry Trinder and Jonny May.

Developing playmaker Mills has now fully recovered from his August knee surguery, while Trinder has overcome his groin strain and May his knee ligament damage – and Billy Burns is also fit again after his broken collarbone.

Lamenting Taylor's setback, Davies explained: "It looks like Tim will perhaps not play again for the rest of the season, but we're monitoring that and hopefully we'll know more soon.

"It's a shame for Tim, he would have had opportunities to play in this next block of fixtures.

"He played a fair bit at the start of the season, but this would have been a great chance for him as well.

"It's a knee problem which is being investigated and we'll hopefully have more news soon.

"At this stage we've got everything crossed, but we also have to look at all our other options too."

England start their Six Nations battle on February 2 when they face Scotland.

Davies is enthused by the return of the likes of talented 20-year-old Exeter-born Mills, and Kingsholm backline starts May and Trinder – and he expects all to ease any burden placed on the Gloucester squad by international call-ups.

He continued: "That's a big disappointment for Tim but with Ryan coming back, he offers an option at ten, and so does Billy Burns.

"Billy Burns is an excellent player developing nicely at the moment and he can fill in there too, and we are pretty excited about seeing Ryan return to action once he's ready as well.

"It's a real positive situation with a lot of our medium-term injuries clearing up at similar times, that's a bit of good news.

"It's obviously not clear at this stage either whether Billy Twelvetrees and Freddie Burns will both be involved in England matchday squads together, so we may end up with one or the other back at different points during the Six Nations anyway."