The moment that changed All Blacks star Sam Cane's life

The now 27-year-old Cane considers himself lucky to still be playing rugby after breaking his neck in a test against South Africa in Pretoria last year.

The gist of it is this: Head caught in wrong position during ruck cleanout, vertebrae broken in two places and a slight dislocation.

The break was fixed by a steel plate and four screws, with the dislocated vertebrae pushed back "like the piece of a jigsaw puzzle".

Tough times for a tough young man. There's no doubt it has changed his outlook.

"It has certainly made me appreciate playing rugby," Cane says. "It's helped me appreciate all the other things in life. Rugby is so important to me, but in that moment when I found out that I'd broken my neck, it was amazing that it didn't matter any more. You think it means so much ... all of a sudden, it was about life and quality of life. At the time, I was too scared to ask if I was going to be able to play rugby again. I was afraid I wouldn't like the answer, so I waited a couple of days and they told me."

After surgery the neck brace was supposed to come off after six weeks. A visit to the specialist put that back another six. None of it was easy and yet he knows it could have been so much worse.

"It didn't take much to be thankful that I could get up and make my own breakfast. I know there are some people who have broken their necks and are wheelchair-bound for the rest of their lives. It put those things in perspective."

"I was [annoyed] because if the officials had been in room and watched me. I couldn't have passed the test any faster. I think because all your senses are heightened from playing, I had a better score than my baseline test.

"It's a World Cup and all the training and things you do to stay in a position to play in a game like that — it was as close to a quarter-final as you can get — and to be denied the chance to play some minutes. They've put their hand up and it has changed, and that's all you can really ask for. I'm glad we won."

"All going well, I'd have more of a role. I only got 30 seconds in the final [in 2015]. I was due to go on earlier until Bender [Ben Smith] got yellow-carded and it changed things.

"In 2015, I was stoked with the way the tournament went. I got to play every game and captained the team for the first time. Four years on, I have more of a leadership role and I want to have a big influence on our performances."

This article first appeared on nzherald.co.nz and was republished with permission.