Leicester Tigers hooker Rob Hawkins rocked by injury blow
Leicester Tigers hooker Rob Hawkins has broken his thumb and will be out of the game for between six and eight weeks.
The 29-year-old suffered the injury during an innocuous training ground incident.
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Rob Hawkins had only just returned to action after he suffered a broken elbow he sustained in the LV= Cup final against Northampton last March.
The news is a frustrating blow for the former Bath man, who has only just returned to action after recovering from the broken elbow he sustained in the LV= Cup final against Northampton last March.
Hawkins has made just one appearance off the bench as Tom Youngs has started all four of Leicester's Aviva Premiership games this season.
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His spell on the sidelines means that Tigers will go into the crucial Heineken Cup games against Toulouse and Ospreys with just Youngs and George Chuter as options in the No.2 shirt, with 21-year-old Jimmy Stevens on standby having started just one game for the club.
Hawkins' set-back is a blip in a week of good news on the injury front for Tigers, with director of rugby Richard Cockerill revealing that Mat Tait, Ben Youngs, Louis Deacon and Ed Slater are all due to return in the next week or two.
Skipper Geordan Murphy also looks set to be back soon, after he limped off against Saracens with a knee injury.
Cockerill said Murphy could return to action as early as next week's game at Sale, which will represent the ideal warm-up for bigger tests in Europe.
In Murphy's absence, fellow Irishman Niall Morris impressed during last week's game against Harlequins, and Cockerill believes the 24-year-old has what it takes to develop into a regular first-team player.
"I thought Niall had a good game," said Cockerill. "That first break he made, when he ran around Chris Robshaw and then Ugo Monye, shows what he can do.
"There are not many people who would be able to do that. He showed a lot of pace and skill.
"Niall played very well for us last season. He is desperate to play and was very disappointed not to have featured in the squad earlier on in the season. Now it's his opportunity to show what he can do.
"He is tough and a lot quicker than people give him credit for. He has been working very hard. I have every confidence in him when he steps up."
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