Lood de Jager is hoping to return to the field “sooner than later” for the Springboks as the injury-plagued lock provides an update on his latest stint on the sidelines.
De Jager has missed the July series against Ireland and the opening Tests of the Rugby Championship in Australia due to a torn muscle in his shoulder.
While initial reports suggested that he would be out for at least two months, the 59-Test skyscraper recently said he only expects to be back by December at the earliest.
It is another massive blow for the 31-year-old World Cup winner, who missed the 2023 tournament due to a heart condition.
Speaking during a sponsors launch ahead of back-to-back Rugby Championship Tests between the Boks and All Blacks in South Africa, De Jager was quoted by News24: “I feel like I have to reintroduce myself to everybody again, I’ve been off the field so long people keep asking me if I’m retired.
“I want to get back, it’s been a while, but it’s a slow process, we’re taking it day by day, just following the doctor and physiotherapists’ advice. It’s a tricky one [to say when I’ll be back], I’ve started my rehab properly now.
“I was in a sling for about six weeks, so we’ll see how it goes, we’ll take it week by week and see how it goes, [I’m] hoping to be on the field sooner than later. We’ve seen real progress in the last three to four weeks, it’s difficult to put an exact time on it, but I will be back on the field again…”
“The timing of the injuries has been terrible, but I think I can still contribute something. We’ll have to see whenever I get back onto the field and I’m 100% fit and past all my troubles and can contribute.
“RG [Snyman] and I had a laugh about it, he said to me: ‘Don’t go all the way to the next World Cup [injured] like I did, you can start playing before that’. I’m on my way but I don’t want to be out as long as he was, that’s one record I don’t want to break.”
On the challenge that awaits the Boks against the old enemy in the Republic, starting with a blockbuster clash at Ellis Park on 31 August, De Jager adds, “It’s difficult to say with the All Blacks. You could see in that previous game against Argentina that they were desperate, and a desperate team is a dangerous team.
“I think we’ll have a good plan and they’ll come across with good plans, it’s the epitome of Test rugby when the Boks play the All Blacks, especially at Ellis Park, they’re going to come out all guns blazing and we’ll do the same.”
Photo: Daniel Jayo/Getty Images
The post Lood: I want to get back for Boks appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Src: sarugbymag.co.za
