(TVNZ) – All Blacks flanker Sam Cane has opened up about his frightening neck injury, suffering a fracture against South Africa in Pretoria last month, saying he’s targeting a return in May 2019.
Cane, 26, came off in the first half of the All Blacks’ 32-30 win, and it was later revealed that he’d suffered a neck fracture, forcing him to stay in South Africa for surgery.
Appearing on Newstalk ZB this morning, Cane spoke about the potentially career-ending injury, amazed he was able to walk away in the way he did.
“When I look back and see the scans and realise how lucky I am, I’m just happy I’m going to make a recovery and I’ll be back playing,” Cane said.
“There was never really a moment where I was really scared because at the same time that I found out I’d fractured my neck, everything was also alright.
“I could feel my toes, my hands, so there was no stress there. I was already in their care so it wasn’t going backwards from there.”
As part of his recovery, Cane is required to wear a neck brace for three months.
He is hopeful of a return to rugby in May next year.
“I’ve got this neck brace on for three months and I hit the halfway point on Monday this week, so another six weeks to go in it.
“All going well. I’ll probably get the last four to five games of Super Rugby in. We’re a little bit sceptical to put a date on it at the moment because I’ve only seen a specialist once and it all just depends on how it heals.
“We’ll just see how it goes. I’m just happy that I’ll be back playing.”
