Aviva Premiership

Sale captain James Gaskell was thought to have broken his leg on Sunday, in the clash with Saracens.

There had been worries that the 20-year-old Sandbach youngster, who became the youngest captain in the Aviva Premiership history when head coach Mike Brewer awarded him the armband earlier this month, had fractured his fibula after the lock was forced off during the 28-13 loss to Saracens on Sunday.

However, 24 hours on from that defeat at Vicarage Road, the medical update from Sale’s Carrington training base brought a welcome ray of sunshine.

“The good news regarding James is that there is no fracture, or even strain, and it looks like he will have an 80 per cent chance of being fit to play at home to Harlequins on Friday,” Brewer revealed.

“The factor that will determine whether James can play will be whether he is able to train on Wednesday.

“Had he been ruled out for a week or two I wouldn’t have been overly concerned but, obviously, it is good news that the injury isn’t what we first feared.”

Gaskell apart, despite an often bruising encounter Brewer reported a clean bill of health as regards the rest of his squad.