Rathbone looks at speedy return

Story by Sportal for the ARU
Friday, November 16, 2007 - 14:00 PM (AEST)

Clyde Rathbone is expected to be available for the Brumbies' first home fixture of the 2008 Investec Super 14 season despite undergoing knee surgery on Monday.

Rathbone missed the final four matches of the 2007 campaign with a patella injury but has been forced to have surgery after a recent scan indicated a tear in the upper part of his left patella tendon.

However, in a timely boost for the Brumbies, Rathbone should only miss his club's opening encounter against the Crusaders in Christchurch and looks set for a return against the Highlanders at home the following week.

Rathbone, though, is merely pleased the tear has been detected.

"The past few months have been an extremely frustrating period where we haven't been able to pinpoint the exact problem," said the winger.

"Fortunately the problem has now been diagnosed and I can start doing what I need to do to get back on the field."

"I've had this injury for a while and until now the scans hadn't revealed the problem. So to finally know what's wrong is a relief. While I do have to go through the rehabilitative process again, I'd much rather be dealing with it now than having to miss matches in the middle or end of the season."

Brumbies head coach Laurie Fisher said that, while the surgery would disrupt Rathbone's pre-season, he's happy the South African-born flyer should be available for the early stages of the 2008 competition.

"It's obviously a frustrating scenario for Clyde having already missed several matches with this injury last season," said Fisher.

"However, the positive is that the problem has been identified and we can now do something about it."

"Clyde's a quality player who's shown what a tremendous asset he is to the team. He's also a very professional player who's familiar with the rehabilitation process and he's very diligent in what he does to get back onto the park."

"In the meantime, we're very fortunate with the depth we have in our outside backs, with the likes of Mark Gerrard and Adam Ashley-Cooper, while Peter Playford and Francis Fainifo were two of the outstanding wingers during the Australian Rugby Championship."