Aviva Premiership Rugby Union side the Exeter Chiefs will face the next three months without star hooker Chris Whitehead, who has been ruled out of action after suffering a relapse of the neck injury that had been bothering him for quite some time and doctors have prescribed surgery for him. The 26 year old put pen to paper to a new two-year deal at the club just last month and will undergo surgery on his neck on Tuesday.
Speaking about the injury to his star hooker, Director of Rugby for the club Rob Baxter has stated that Chris has been having this neck injury for quite some time, which is a typical hooker’s problem that he summed up as a degenerative issue and added that the club had to make a decision on it sooner rather than later for the benefit of the player’s own health and the club’s sake as well. The Exeter Chiefs boss mentioned that they could have chosen to wait for the surgery but that might have been pushing it too far as it could have gotten worse and might even have been threatening for his career.
Whitehead has made 11 appearances for The Chiefs this season and has started eight matches while he came on for the other three from the bench and the last time he featured for the side was in their victory over the London Irish earlier in December.
However, his absence might not affect the side too much as all the other hookers for the side is fit. And Exeter Chiefs boss Baxter has added that the time was right for Whitehead to get the surgery done, and mentioned that since the player will be with the team for a long time hopefully, it is better to have him fit and fine.