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Sam Cane might return from broken neck sooner than many fear

Sam Cane last June. Photo / Getty Images.

Chiefs head coach Colin Cooper is hoping All Blacks flanker Sam Cane will be given the green light to start playing again by the end of May as he recovers from the broken neck he suffered against South Africa.

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That would still give Cane time to make the All Blacks squad for the Rugby World Cup in Japan but Cooper insisted the defending champion’s leading open side would not be rushed back and his return will depend on specialist medical advice.

Cane was left in a neck brace a long period after a collision with Springboks loose forward Francois Louw in the 35th minute of the All Blacks victory at Loftus Versfeld in October last year. In an interview with Radio Sport’s D’Arcy Waldegrave, Cooper said he hoped for good news to come back from Cane’s meeting with a specialist later this year.

“He goes back to a specialist early April and hopefully they give him the green flag end of April or May,” said Cooper who will have Brodie Retallick as the team’s on-field leader for the Chiefs Super Rugby campaign with Cane being involved off the pitch.

“We’ve kept with him (Cane) the whole time. He’s a great leader and so he will captain the Chiefs for 2019 and co-captain with Brodie Retallick. So while Sam is not playing he’ll be doing a lot of the captaincy off the field and Brodie will be leading the team on the field.”

Cane admits the injury has forced him to look at his life and recognise what is important going forward and he told journalists: “It probably put rugby in perspective within half a day for me. People were saying ‘will you be right for the World Cup?’ I was just like, honestly, that’s the furthest thing from my mind at the moment.”

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Nickers 16 minutes ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

I thought we made a lot of progress against that type of defence by the WC last year. Lots of direct running and punching holes rather than using width. Against that type of defence I think you have to be looking to kick on first phase when you have front foot ball which we did relatively successfully. We are playing a lot of rugby behind the gain line at the moment. They are looking for those little interchanges for soft shoulders and fast ball or off loads but it regularly turns into them battering away with slow ball and going backwards, then putting in a very rushed kick under huge pressure.


JB brought that dimension when he first moved into 12 a couple of years ago but he's definitely not been at his best this year. I don't know if it is because he is being asked to play a narrow role, or carrying a niggle or two, but he does not look confident to me. He had that clean break on the weekend and stood there like he was a prop who found himself in open space and didn't know what to do with the ball. He is still a good first phase ball carrier though, they use him a lot off the line out to set up fast clean ball, but I don't think anyone is particularly clear on what they are supposed to do at that point. He was used really successfully as a second playmaker last year but I don't think he's been at that role once this year. He is a triple threat player but playing a very 1 dimensional role at the moment. He and Reiko have been absolutely rock solid on defence which is why I don't think there will be too much experimentation or changes there.

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