Borthwick on course for Amlin return

Borthwick spent a night in hospital after being kicked in the eye by Gloucester's French international hooker Olivier Azam in a recent Guinness Premiership match and looked to be set for a long time on the sidelines. In the meantime, Azam was banned for 12 weeks for his action, although he has appealed against the severity of the sentence.

But, having established there was no fracture to the eye socket and no lasting damage to the eye itself, Borthwick is ready to resume and has set his sights on tackling Jonny Wilkinson's high-flying Toulon side on Thursday night.

"I am good to go and the eye has healed really well. It was a nervous time," he admitted.

"The eye swelled shut immediately so I couldn't see anything and it had taken a bang so it was numb and I couldn't feel anything. I was very alarmed by it.

"I spent that night in hospital and they told me as early as possible that everything was okay. They said the eyeball itself was healthy but they had surgery booked for the next day because they were 95% certain I had a fracture.

"Thankfully, the next morning when they did more tests they said there was no fracture and that the eye just needed to heal. It took several days to open up but I have got my vision back and as a rugby player I am desperate to play rugby so I am really looking forward to getting back involved later this week."