Long-term Wales absentee Gareth Anscombe has posted his latest ACL recovery update

Wales and Ospreys fly-half Gareth Anscombe has provided the latest update to his recovery from his ACL injury. The 29-year-old has shared a midweek video on Instagram of himself running, marking his progress over the past months. 

In January this year, Anscombe shared footage of himself jogging but his latest video now sees him changing angles and stepping off his injured right leg. 

It will still be months before the 27-cap international makes his playing return, as he is expected to be out until next season. 

However, having originally sustained the injury in August 2019 in a World Cup warm-up match against England, Anscombe said in his post earlier this year that there is “finally some light at the end of the tunnel”. 

After already being out of action for over a year, Anscombe’s recovery took another hammer blow in late 2020 when it was revealed by Wales head coach Wayne Pivac that the New Zealand-born playmaker was going to be out for another year after undergoing a second operation.

The initial injury obviously ruled Anscombe out of Wales' 2019 World Cup campaign after he had only established himself as Warren Gatland’s first choice fly-half earlier that year. When the extent of the first injury was announced, it was not expected that it would also sabotage his chances of making the British and Irish Lions tour two years later. 

Anscombe has also played no part in Pivac’s reign as head coach and the mixed two years Wales have had - reaching the World Cup semi-final, struggling in 2020 and then winning the Guinness Six Nations this year. In that time, fly-half Callum Sheedy has also been capped, as has Ioan Lloyd, who may play a similar role to Anscombe for Wales in the future being able to cover No10 and No15.