GLOUCESTER believe Ben Morgan's ankle problem could rule him out for five more weeks – jeopardising his Six Nations and conflicting with England's hopes he could be fit to face Italy.
England boss Stuart Lancaster said on Monday he aimed to have number eight Morgan fit for the March 10 Twickenham clash with the Italians.
Lancaster suggested the 23-year-old could even have been ready to prove his fitness in Gloucester's Friday, March 1 Premiership clash with Bath.
But Gloucester rugby director Nigel Davies has revealed Morgan will definitely not be fit to face Bath on Friday week and admitted the Dursley youth product faces more time on the sidelines.
Morgan sustained ankle ligament damage in England's Six Nations-opening 38-18 Scotland victory on February 2.
Kingsholm boss Davies is unsure how England came to the conclusion Morgan was close to a playing return, but he has ruled out the former Scarlets back-rower having any involvement against Bath.
Davies explained: "Ben won't be ready for the Bath match.
"It's very difficult to know but he's probably four or five weeks away yet.
"I'm not sure how England came to that, I haven't spoken to Stuart about it myself.
"He's got a similar injury to what Manu Tuilagi had, and maybe that's where they've taken their point of reference from, but I don't know.
"As far as we're aware, he's still three, four, maybe five weeks off."
While Morgan is struggling, England squad-mate and Gloucester fly-half Freddie Burns is closing in on a return after knee ligament trouble.
Davies confirmed England's assessment that Burns is primed for action in next weekend's league clash at The Recreation Ground against Bath.
Burns took a full part in yesterday's training session at Kingsholm – returning a flawless set of kicks at goal.
Davies said the 22-year-old is all but ready to go – but Gloucester's medical team warned this week would still be too soon.
The talented playmaker will miss Friday's Kingsholm clash with Worcester (kick-off 7.45pm), but should be back in harness a week later.
Davies continued: "It's good news on Freddie, he trained well yesterday and he was running at almost full speed.
"He took some shots at goal as well, and fair play, he was 100 per cent.
"So he's not far away at all.
"He wants to get going right now, but the medics just say we have to be careful.
"Freddie's great you know, it might sound an odd thing to say but he's one player that wants to play rugby.
"He's just full of energy and enthusiasm, and he just can't wait to get back.
"And again, the injury is a real pain for him: he doesn't regard it as anything other than something that's holding him back right now.
"He's been brilliant and he'll be ready for selection for the Bath game.
"We are just holding him back slightly this week, on the medical advice, which says it's a little bit too early for him this week.
"And that's fine – but he'd be playing if he could."
Luckless Matt Cox will have surgery to fix his broken hand today.
No sooner had the flanker joined the fray at Wasps on Sunday, than he broke his hand making his first tackle.
Now the former Worcester loose-forward could be out of action for up to six weeks.
Front-rowers Huia Edmonds and Dario Chistolini are fit again, but tighthead Shaun Knight's knee might take two more weeks to calm down.
Akapusi Qera suffered a stinger to the neck in Sunday's 33-29 Wasps defeat, but is fit for the Worcester clash.
Davies added: "Matt's having an operation today.
"He expects himself to be about two weeks but realistically it's more like six.
"We'll probably get somewhere in between.
"Matt broke his hand virtually the first minute he went onto the field, and he was brave to stay on and work so hard for us.
"But that's the type of character he is, he respects the shirt he was wearing, and he gave everything he had with a broken hand.
"Qera's fine now, while Dario is back fit and will give us another option at tighthead, which is good.
"Huia should be fit for selection too, and he's a different style of player from our other hookers, with his abilities in the broken-field."
