Leicester Tigers have confirmed that outside back Jonah Holmes has been ruled out of action until the new year after scans revealed he suffered a partial tear to his medial collateral ligament in last weekend’s Premiership fixture against Northampton Saints.
The Welsh international is expected to be side-lined for six weeks, with an anticipated return in the early stages of 2020.
Speaking about the loss of Holmes, Tigers head coach Geordan Murphy admitted it was a “cruel” blow for the speedster as well as a testing time for the depth of the Leicester squad’s outside back ranks.
“We’re very disappointed for Jonah, he is a much-valued member of this squad and it’s a cruel blow for him given the form he is in for us,” said Murphy.
“Since returning to the group partway through the pre-season programme, after spending the opening months of the summer with Wales, he has added a lot to this young group.
“His growth and improvement since joining Tigers has been huge and seen him rise from a Championship player to international.
Holmes joins fellow outside backs Telusa Veainu, Jordan Olowofela and Sam Aspland-Robinson on the injured list.
Murphy also provided an update on Holmes' fellow speedsters, Veainu and Olowofela, who the head coach says have both returned to training last week.
"Telusa's injury was an odd one, it ruled him out of anything at all while it settled down," said Murphy.
"But, thankfully, it's improved well and he got back into some sessions last week.
"We'll up his load this week and are confident he'll back in the mix in the coming weeks."
Murphy also said Olowofela, who was injured in the loss to London Irish in Round 4 of this season's Premiership, was back running and hopeful of a return before the new year.
"Jordan [Olowofela] is ticking along nicely and has done very well with his rehab," Murphy said.
"It was great to see him back running last week and we're looking forward to adding him back into team sessions over the coming weeks and hopefully seeing him available to play again before the end of the year."
