WORCESTER Warriors are looking to bring in a tight-head prop on injury dispensation to bolster their ailing pack.
Scotland international Euan Murray was surprisingly included in Warriors’ starting 15 against Sale Sharks on Saturday despite having not appeared for the club since November.
But after the Aviva Premiership encounter, which Worcester lost 24-12, director of rugby Dean Ryan revealed he was forced to bring the 34-year-old, who had been recovering from an Achilles problem and a thumb injury, back after Jon Andress was ruled out on the day of the game with a slipped disc issue.
It leaves Rob O’Donnell as Warriors’ only fully fit tight-head prop and Ryan said he may have to seek injury dispensation to bring in front row enforcements.
“It is something we’ll have to look at as being so light on tight-heads when Euan hadn’t trained all week isn’t good, but that’s the situation we are in,” he said.
“We’ve only had two tight-heads for seven months now and we’re still in the same situation – just with a different two.
“We will need to explore our relationships, but there is not a Dan Cole waiting around the corner.
“It’s the nature of my job to try to get someone in, but it doesn’t put us on a strong front – we’ll talk to other clubs and see if we can add to our mix.
“We’ll probably find now that Euan will get picked for Scotland – that’s how life tends to work.”