Wednesday 3 May 2017 15:25, UK
British and Irish Lions head coach Warren Gatland has revealed Sam Warburton, Alun-Wyn Jones and Conor Murray are making good progress in their recovery from injury.
Lions captain Warburton injured the medial ligament in his knee during the Cardiff Blues' 24-24 draw against Ulster in Belfast last month, sidelining him for approximately six weeks, while Jones and Murray have yet to play since the Six Nations.
Second-row Jones injured his shoulder playing for Wales against France in Paris in March, but having avoided surgery, was also given a six-week diagnosis for recovery.
Scrum-half Murray has been out of action since Ireland's defeat to Wales on March 10 having sustained a 'stinger' in his shoulder, with recovery having gone far slower than expected.
Gatland revealed to Sky Sports News HQ on Wednesday, however, that all three look set to feature for their clubs before the tour.
"He's [Warburton] good. I spoke to Sam yesterday and he feels that he could play now, and so he's made some really good progress and really happy with how he's responded to treatment over the last few weeks," Gatland said.
"I expect him to play before he goes to New Zealand. I think he's looking to play for the Blues and if potentially they are involved in one of the play-off games to get into Europe, he's hoping to be selected for that.
"[Jones] is making good progress as well. Steve Borthwick [Lions forward coach] went down and saw him last week and he's confident that he's going to be okay as well.
"That's part of the plan [for Jones to play before the tour]. It looks like the Ospreys are going to be involved in the semi-finals of the Pro12 and that would give him an opportunity to get some rugby under his belt.
"The ideal scenario is that, and it's not for everyone, but depending on how long ago you've picked up an injury, you want some players to get back on the field and get a game under their belt before we go on tour.
"Conor Murray, the prognosis with him looks pretty positive in terms of hopefully getting back and getting a game for Munster as well, and that'll be good for him over the next few weeks if he can get a game.
"Apart from that we get regular updates and the thing with modern day professional rugby is that most players are carrying something because the body takes an absolute hammering from week to week, so you're going to be sore or something's not going to be 100 per cent and just as long as it's not too long-term.
"The job for us and the clubs potentially and the players over the next month is to manage everyone as well as we possibly can and to make sure we do that well on tour also."
Ahead of the Lions' arrival to face New Zealand in June and July, the All Blacks have their own injury concerns with Kieran Read, Dane Coles and Ben Smith all in a race to be fit for the tour, something Gatland added must be concerning for them.
"They [Read and Coles injuries] are quite significant I think, Ben Smith as well," he said. "Kieran Read they are saying he's going to be back in time but he won't have had a lot of rugby under his belt potentially before the first test.
"Coles, that seems to be quite a niggling injury with that calf that's been going on for awhile, and having done a calf in my rugby career it's one of those injuries that is hard to get confidence from and just trying to be careful about not coming back too early, so that will be a little bit of a concern for them.
"We're quite lucky at the moment because I don't think there's anyone that we're hugely concerned about missing the tour.
"I think they're [Lions players] probably a little more apprehensive than I am in terms of hoping that they don't pick up anything and we've seen that in the past, those two finals, the Premiership and Pro12, there's going to be some nervous people on both sides in terms of the coaches and the management and the players hopefully not picking up major injuries before we get onto the plane the next day."
