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Michael Fatialofa takes another step towards recovery from horrific injury

(Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

The continued recovery of Worcester Warriors’ Michael Fatialofa from a serious spinal injury has taken another astonishing turn, as he has begun weight training just days after walking out of hospital.

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The 27-year-old New Zealander had been in hospital since January 4 after he suffered a C4 vertebrae fracture and a severe contusion of the spinal cord when appearing as a replacement during a Gallagher Premiership match against Saracens at Allianz Park.

He spent almost three weeks in intensive care in London before being transferred to the rehab unit at the Royal Buckinghamshire hospital in Aylesbury. Within eleven weeks, the lock was walking unaided having been paralysed from the neck down, and has continued to chronicle his recovery.

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Jeff Wilson and the team at Sky Sports NZ preview Round 1 of Super Rugby Aotearoa.

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Jeff Wilson and the team at Sky Sports NZ preview Round 1 of Super Rugby Aotearoa.

He returned home last week, walking out of the specialist spinal injuries unit, and is set to continue his rehabilitation with Worcester, but has even started lifting weights again. His wife Tatiana recently shared a video on social media of the lock floor pressing with the help of Warriors teammate Joe Taufete’e.

Upon Fatitalofa’s return to Sixways, the Warriors’ Head of Medical Ryan Kehoe said:

“His rehabilitation at this stage will focus on improving his general muscular strength, co-ordination and mobility.”

This is yet more progress in the Kiwi’s recovery, which has been one of the most inspiring stories in the game recently.

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Fatialofa originally signed for Worcester in 2018 having played for the Hurricanes in Super Rugby and Auckland in the Mitre 10 Cup, and was making his ninth appearance of the season for the West Midlands outfit when he suffered the injury. While he was set to move on to a French club when his Warriors contract expired at the end of June, he will now stay local to the Warriors’ facilities to continue his rehabilitation.

A fundraising campaign was launched by the Rugby Players Association’ charity Restart with the support of Warriors in early February.

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N
NB 40 minutes ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Nice bit if revisioniusm but that's all it is JW.


For your further education, I found the following breakdown of one prominent club's finances in the Top 14 [Clermont].


For Clermont (budget of €29.5 million for 2021-2022) :

- 20% from ticket sales

- 17% from the LNR (includes TV Rights, compensation from producing french internationals and other minor stuff)

- 5% from public collectivities (so you're looking at funds from the city of Clermont, the department of Puy-De-Dôme and the region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes)

- 4% from merchandising and events

- 3% from miscellaneous

- 51 % from sponsorships and partnerships. They've got 550 different partners. The main ones are CGI, Groupama, Limagrain/Jacquet, Omerin, Paprec, Renault and of course Michelin (not surprising since they're actually the founders of the club).


As you can see nothing comes from the FFR at all. The LNR is a separate entitiy to FFR and their aims frequently do not accord.


It is also why the European breakaway plotted by LNR and PR back in 2013 had nothing to do with the governing bodies of either England or France - and it most certainly did not have their blessing https://www.espn.co.uk/rugby/story/_/id/15331030/jean-pierre-lux-anglo-french-cup-detrimental-european-rugby


And from the horse's mouth [ex AB skipper Sean Fitapatrick] about the comp between Top 14 and Super Rugby:


"The Top 14 in France is probably the best rugby competition in the world at the moment, purely for the week-in, week-out.”


“I think the quality of players. They are bigger, they are faster, they are stronger. Which then carries on into the international game.”

Take it from someone who knows JW😅

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