All things considered, the latest bulletin on the wellbeing of Jack Walsh is encouraging for the player and for the Ospreys.
He was last seen in public departing proceedings early when the Dragons visited the Swansea.com Stadium last Saturday, having been the target for treatment that even old-school sorts might describe as rough.
First, prop Lloyd Fairbrother shook up the fly-half with a heavy-duty shot that could have resulted in a yellow card.
Read more: Wales international Davies set to leave Welsh region
Then Ross Moriarty came up with a hit so late it might have been sponsored by the worst-performing train company.
A spell in the sin-bin followed for the Wales international and not long after Dragons centre Sio Tomkinson saw red for a high and tardy tackle that cut short Walsh’s involvement in the game.
If Tomkinson doesn’t get a birthday card from Walsh later this year, he shouldn’t be surprised. The hit was brutal and harked back to a different age, with some describing the series of contacts on the No. 10 as cheap shots.
Unsurprisingly, he left the pitch looking more than a shade dazed, but, a few days on, he appears to be on the mend.
Asked ahead of the European match with Saracens on Sunday if the Ospreys had any injuries from last weekend, their coach Toby Booth said: “Only Jack Walsh who obviously had his head removed from shoulders. He’s still recovering a little bit from that through the protocols that you have to go through. But I think by the time the game comes around he should be OK.”
Dragons coach Dai Flanagan admitted after the game that his side had tried to target certain individuals in the Ospreys team but had “overstepped the mark”.
Criticism duly came in from former players, prompting Flanagan to suggest something had been lost in translation and the plan had been to make the Ospreys No. 10 uncomfortable and put him off his game. "Everyone who works for me knows that there are lines you can't cross,” said Flanagan.
"We crossed those lines in aspects of that and I don't stand for that. I'm very clear on that and the boys are well aware of it."
READ NEXT:
Axed Wales star backed to force Gatland's hand after being left 'hurt and despondent'
Former Cardiff Rugby chairman Peter Thomas dies aged 79 as tributes pour in
