Sam Cane hints at possible return date after lengthy injury spell
Injured All Blacks captain Sam Cane has revealed he is targeting a return to action via the NPC once he has fully recovered from his pectoral injury later this year.
Cane has been out of action since April after he sustained a pectoral injury while playing for the Chiefs during the Super Rugby season and was absent during the All Blacks' recent test series against Tonga and Fiji.
The 29-year-old was also not included in the All Blacks squad named to compete in the Bledisloe Cup and Rugby Championship series on Monday, with interim skipper Sam Whitelock taking the captaincy reins once again.
Speaking to SENZ on Monday, Cane said he is still some way off from returning to the test arena after complications arose during his recovery from what he was initially told was a torn pectoral muscle.
“I’d been told I tore my pec, but when they went in and had a look there were three other things that needed tidying up," the 74-test flanker said.
“So, the first initial thought was four to six months, which is the pec range. Once I ended up getting the full shoulder reconstruction it was always going to be six months.”
Cane added he remains on track to return to the playing field before the end of the year as he is targeting a brief stint with Bay of Plenty in the latter stages of this year's NPC before making his way back into the All Blacks squad.
“I’ve looked at where the six-month mark sits post-surgery and there’re two or three games on the Bay of Plenty schedule before playoffs, so will be pretty nice to be able to pull on the Bay jersey,” he said.
However, Cane didn't confirm a specific return date as he said comeback is dependent on how well he recovers over the coming months.
“It’s one of those injuries that will be ready when it’s ready.”
The NPC is scheduled to kick-off on August 6, with Bay of Plenty scheduled to begin their campaign against reigning champions Tasman in Tauranga two days later.
The All Blacks, meanwhile, will continue their test campaign when they host the Wallabies in the opening Bledisloe Cup test of the year at Eden Park in Auckland on August 7.
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Skelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
Go to commentsSharks deserved to be far further back by the last quarter. Their tackling was awful, their set pieces were disappointing, their defensive organization was poor (especially on the Kok side of the D line), they kept making unnecessary errors, and they never looked like cracking the Clermont defense during those first 60m. Masuku kept them in touch, with some help from the Clermont generosity on penalty opportunities. Agree with the writer of this article. It was belligerence, and ability to raise their pressure game just enough, that turned the last quarter into a Bok-style shutout. Clermont have a reputation of not playing the full 80m, and there was a bit of that for sure. But, quite often when the intensity of a team drops off in the last quarter credit is due to the opponent for tiring them out. At 60m, with the Kok try, you thought that just maybe the game was on. At 70m, with the Mapimpi contribution, one felt that Clermont were fading, while facing a team that would maintain the pressure game through the final whistle. Good win in the end, but the Sharks are still playing way below their potential. And with their resources, and a coach that has had enough time to figure things out, they are running out of excuses.
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