Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

'I heard a pop' - AJ MacGinty's 'crazy aggressive treatment' to rehab knee

AJ MacGinty /Getty

Sale Sharks AJ MacGinty is flying to Newfoundland at the start of a 12,000 mile trip designed to take the USA Eagles to the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France and prepare him for another attempt at winning the Gallagher Premiership title.

ADVERTISEMENT

Eagles captain MacGinty’s itinerary transports him from Manchester to St John’s, Newfoundland via Montreal on Sunday for the first World Cup qualifying match with Canada next Saturday and then to Denver for the return fixture on September 11 before heading back to England ahead of the opening Premiership home game with Bath on September 18.

If the USA are the aggregate winner over the two legs, they will then face Uruguay on October 2 and 9, with the victor earning qualification for Rugby World Cup 2023 in Pool A with New Zealand, France Italy and possibly Namibia. The loser of the USA v Canada matches will face Chile over two legs on October 2 and 9, with the winner of that tie facing a further play-off in 2022 to earn a place in France.

Video Spacer

Ardie Savea’s overwhelmed by honour of captaining All Blacks | New Zealand Press Conference

Video Spacer

Ardie Savea’s overwhelmed by honour of captaining All Blacks | New Zealand Press Conference

The World Cup qualifying match in St John’s will be the MacGinty’s first since he badly injured a knee in Sale’s final regular-season Premiership match against Exeter which they lost 20-19. As a result, MacGinty, who was enjoying his best season in Sale colours, missed the play-off semi-final against the same opposition a week later which saw Exeter earn the right to reach Twickenham where they lost to Harlequins in the final.

Now, after a successful rehabilitation programme that has included the use of a special muscle exercising machine from America, MacGinty is ready for his trans-Atlantic challenge and Sale’s Premiership campaign.

While MacGinty is determined to help Sale prove they are again one of the leading contenders for the Premiership title, he knows that getting the USA to France is critical for the continued development of North American rugby.

He told RugbyPass: “The knee injury actually happened earlier in the Exeter match and I heard a pop in the first half and I tore my cartilage at that point. At the end of the game I got bumped and the loose cartilage overlapped onto the bit that was still attached and created a kind of doorstep in my knee and everything seized up.

ADVERTISEMENT

“I couldn’t put pressure on the leg and it could have been a lengthy absence but the surgeon said I would be able to put weight on the leg after the operation. He was right and straight after surgery I was able to walk on it and then it was a case of cracking on. I cannot speak too highly about the staff at Sale and the environment which makes a big difference. I have been nailing down the smaller tendons and ligaments with specific work and the S&C guys are great.

MacGinty Sale
(Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

“Unlike Manu (Tuilagi) there hasn’t been any ballroom dancing during the rehab and while my wife is a good dancer she will tell you I am not. I acquired an Arpwave machine from America which stimulates your muscles even when you are sitting down and use it five times a week for 20 minutes a time. It is a crazy aggressive treatment as well as the pool work and beach walking in sand to strengthen muscles in my feet to improve my ankles and knees.“

The injury robbed MacGinty of the chance to captain the Eagles against England at Twickenham and in the match with Ireland in Dublin where his family was hoping to see him in action. While those heavy defeats were a setback, MacGinty believes the chance to play in big matches has helped the development of the young talent in a squad that is increasingly based on players from Major League Rugby that is making significant strides in North America.

ADVERTISEMENT

Now, he is back and recognises the importance of qualifying for France and added: “The qualifying pathway has changed and if we beat Canada there is another round of matches before you make it to the World Cup. We hadn’t been together for nearly 18 months before we played England and a lot of guys in the squad will have taken a lot from those games as they had to deal with COVID-19 restrictions disruptions. The squad had a lot of new faces and the group was really tight and that is very promising and coming up we also have games against the All Blacks (Oct 23) and then Ireland (Oct 30) in Las Vegas.”

England USA AJ MacGinty
Press Association

The Sale squad is completing pre-season training minus Springbok players Faf de Klerk, Lood de Jager and the du Preez brother Dan and Jean-Luc who won’t be available until later in year while Tom Curry, the Lions and England flanker, is also serving his mandatory stand-down period. MacGinty, thanks to the injury, will be able to launch straight into the Premiership season and said: “I have had my time off in the summer and am raring to go.

“Of course you want those guys around but it will the players who are doing the pre-season who will be involved over the next ten weeks and then those players will come back in November and December and add to the squad. The training has been incredible and the new signings are also making an impact. If other teams want to write us off because of the players who won’t be with us at the start of the campaign that will be in our favour.

“The experience from last year had a big impact on everyone and we were all disappointed. There is a hunger and desire and we know there is a lot more we can do and we will hit the ground running from round one. Manu Tuilagi and Rohan Janse van Rensburg are both fit and in great shape although they are a bit sore at the moment because myself and Rob du Preez spanked them at golf recently.

“Manu is four months into golf and shot a 114 which was his best round and he is playing off 28. Rohan hits the ball 300 yards off the tee and while it can go wayward, he has a future in long driving competitions.”

ADVERTISEMENT

LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

O
Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
LONG READ
LONG READ “He’s given Connacht everything” – Bundee Aki’s future, and an exciting tactical innovation “He’s given Connacht everything” – Bundee Aki’s future, and an exciting tactical innovation
Search