Castleford and England scrum-half Luke Gale out for three months with a fractured kneecap
Thursday 3 May 2018 07:52, UK
Castleford Tigers will be without Luke Gale for three months after the England scrum-half underwent surgery on a fractured kneecap.
Gale, the reigning Man of Steel, suffered the injury in Castleford's Super League win over Wakefield last Friday and had an operation to repair his knee on Wednesday.
"Luke took a knee-on-knee clash on probably the biggest player in Super League, Pauli Pauli, and ended with slight crack in his patella," said Castleford and England physiotherapist Matty Crowther.
"He's also got a bit of cartilage damage and he's had an operation which will keep him out for probably for three months."
After his stellar season with his club, Gale started all six matches for England in the 2017 World Cup and, despite a dip in form, was set to continue his run in the mid-season Test match against New Zealand in Denver on June 23.
His absence leaves only Gareth Widdop (St George Illawarra) and George Williams (Wigan) as the obvious half-back options for England coach Wayne Bennett and that could open the door for St Helens youngster Danny Richardson, who is in the England Knights' elite performance squad.
Gale's unavailability means Bennett's senior squad of Super League-based players is down to just 17, with Kevin Brown (Warrington) having retired from international rugby league and Alex Walmsley (St Helens) and Ben Currie (Warrington) ruled out by injury.
The injury to Gale is an even bigger blow for Castleford, who face the prospect of being without their chief play-maker until August.
The Tigers are already without Gale's half-back partner Ben Roberts because of injury and coach Daryl Powell is likely to pair up Jamie Ellis and Paul McShane for the visit to Hull on Saturday.
