Olly Morgan deserves a slice of luck after his injury-blighted last 12 months and he got a hefty one when his doctor confirmed that the finger injury he suffered on Sunday was not as severe as it might have been. Morgan will even be in contention to play for Gloucester this weekend in their crucial Heineken Cup match against Cardiff and will certainly be free to take up his place in Martin Johnson's Six Nations squad.
Morgan's immediate chances of adding to his two England caps looked bleak when he left the pitch against Newcastle. "I tried to prevent the opposite man fly-hacking through the line, so I dived on the ball," Morgan said. "Then I went to shake off the pain and, when I looked at my finger five seconds later, I saw the bone sticking out at right angles."
He makes it sound gruesome but, having had the all-clear, Morgan felt able to brush it off as "pretty standard stuff for a rugby player these days. The doctor just popped it back in and away I went. There has been some talk about me coming back into the England squad and I thought on Sunday that the injury would affect that, but thank goodness it hasn't. Especially after my troubles last year."
Morgan is fully aware of the cost that getting injured at the wrong time can have on a career. He was called up for his first cap last year after his team-mate Iain Balshaw withdrew from the England squad. After playing against Scotland and Ireland, Morgan himself missed the rest of the season after damaging his shoulder during England's ignominious defeat at Croke Park.
"It was very hard to deal with," he said. "When my shoulder went it was so demoralising and for a long time I just couldn't see any light at the end of the tunnel."
A new season and a new start have done wonders for him, though. His defence has always been assured but now he appears to have honed his attacking instincts as well. He has scored seven tries in 14 games for Gloucester this season. He has never before managed more than four in an entire campaign.
"I'm a real confidence player, so the fact that Gloucester have had so much faith in me has really helped my form," he added. "When I saw the levels of attacking play that guys like Nick Abendanon and Delon Armitage had taken their game to, I realised it was something I had to work on. I've been striving to get to similar levels by working on my all-round skills with the backs coaches at Gloucester. I feel I've got to a point where I'm reliable in defence and incisive in attack. Now I'm just looking forward to getting stuck in with England."
