Brumbies' walking wounded see a silver lining in full pre-season of training
Date
July 20, 2012
They're the ACT Brumbies' walking wounded.
But coach Jake White hopes sending some of his stars for early surgery will have his team primed and fit for an assault on the 2013 Super Rugby season.
A shattered Joseph Tomane joined a long list of casualties yesterday when an unexpected ankle reconstruction shattered his hopes of launching himself back on to the Wallabies' wing this year.
Instead of his planned six weeks on the sideline, Tomane will spend the next four months recovering from surgery.
The Brumbies flyer joins a host of players who have either already gone under the knife or are waiting to see the surgeon in the next 10 days.
Scott Fardy and Sam Carter will have shoulder operations, while Henry Speight will have surgery on the knee injury he carried through most of the Super Rugby season.
Dan Palmer has had surgery on his foot, while Nic White is expected to have a shoulder operation when he finishes his Wallabies commitments.
Add to that Christian Lealiifano (shoulder and knee) and Matt To'omua (knee), who have already had major operations, and the list of injuries makes the Brumbies' impressive Super Rugby campaign even more impressive.
Fardy, Carter, Speight, Palmer and White played through pain most weeks to keep their dream of making the finals alive.
The Brumbies' charge to the finals fell at the final hurdle when they lost to the Auckland Blues last weekend.
First-choice playmakers Lealiifano and To'omua were already on the sideline, while Palmer and Tomane lasted less than 40 minutes before they were forced off through injury.
However, the Brumbies are refusing to use injuries as an excuse for falling one point short of a drought-breaking play-off appearance.
In a boost to the 2013 campaign and White's plans to go one step further in his second season in charge, they will have surgery to ensure they return for pre-season training fit and ready to erase the pain of falling short of the finals this season.
Tomane had planned to be back training in six weeks to impress Test selectors for the Wallabies' Rugby Championship series against New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina.
He initially suffered an ankle syndesmosis injury while training with the Wallabies last month.
The rugby league convert attempted to make a comeback last weekend, but he is now out of action for four months.
The Brumbies will return to their Griffith headquarters on Wednesday and those who are fit and not on Wallabies duties will play in the John I Dent Cup for the remainder of the season.
Their official pre-season training begins in late October.
And while Brumbies headquarters will resemble a casualty ward with arm slings, crutches and bandages in the coming weeks, White is expecting all to be ready for the opening round next year.
White is still on a recruiting mission and it is hoped David Pocock will make a decision on his future in the next two weeks.
