Lood de Jager

The Sharks are set to lose out on the services of Springbok lock Lood de Jager as they look to bolster their pack of forwards.

Lood de Jager gives Springboks injury boost with early return to action

Springbok lock Lood de Jager has made an earlier than expected recovery from his injury and is set to return to competitive action in two weeks time.

Lood de Jager

The Sharks are set to lose out on the services of Springbok lock Lood de Jager as they look to bolster their pack of forwards.

Springbok lock Lood de Jager has made an earlier than expected recovery from his injury and is set to return to competitive action in two weeks time.

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Lood de Jager sustained a fractured leg as well as knee damage at the start of April during a training session.

The usual recovery time from this type of injury is 16 weeks, but Lood de Jager appears to have made an earlier than expected recovery, which will come as a huge relief to the Springboks, whose first Test against the British & Irish Lions is on July 23.

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“My previous injuries and the rehab I did has helped me massively this time but the difference is that we are in a race against the clock and everything is being condensed,” said the World Cup-winning lock.

“I have worked harder than I’ve ever done to accelerate the process with the initial prognosis 16 weeks and we are pushing it for 12.

“The most crucial thing is that normally they tell you to rest the leg for two weeks after surgery and I started the day after trying to keep the muscle mass in my leg, because you can lose a lot.

“That is where our head of physiotherapy did an amazing job by maintaining muscle mass without compromising my injury and that was really important.

“We have exceptional S&C and medical staff at the club but at the end of the day if you don’t put in the work you won’t get the results.

“Those guys are with you all the time but they cannot do the rehab work.

“I do as much as I can every day and see how the leg reacts and luckily we have not had any setbacks and so we are still pushing for the Premiership final and I want to be part of that match.

“I have enjoyed working with Alex [Sanderson], he is an unbelievable coach and one of a kind – one of the best I have ever worked with. I don’t want to disappoint the guy and we have a real brotherhood here with everyone caring for each other and that goes a long way.

“It is nice to have so many Saffas around and you miss home when you don’t see your family and friends for quite a while. For the wives it’s massive to have support and if your family is not happy then it can affect the way you play and they all connect with each other and are friends. There is a really big support system.”

The 28-year-old then went on to describe the day of the British & Irish Lions squad announcement, admitting he was full of nerves and had to go shopping to take his mind off things.

“I cannot watch the announcement live except the first time I was named in 2004 and since then I can’t and so I went to Tesco to do some shopping this time,” Lood de Jager explained.

“I checked my phone for messages from my family and found out that I was in the squad.

“I told the Springbok management that I would do everything I could to be ready and they said they wanted me around, but I had to be ready to play.

“The big thing is to get two or three games before the Lions because you want to perform, not just be part of the series, to make sure I am match fit.

“It is always amazing to be selected by the Springboks, it is the biggest honour and I never take it for granted and still get nervous every time a squad is named,” Lood de Jager concluded.