All pain and no gain for Polota-Nau

Injured hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau has admitted to a painful secret of playing much of the Super 14 Final against the Crusaders with a broken hand.

Injured hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau has admitted to a painful secret of playing much of the Super 14 Final against the Crusaders with a broken hand.

Polota-Nau, who underwent surgery on Wednesday to repair a broken bone in his right hand, picked up the injury in the 30th minute of the Waratahs' hard-fought 12-20 loss in Christchurch last weekend.

The Wallabies rake is now expected to be sidelined for between three and four weeks ruling him out of the first two Tests of the season against Ireland and France, with a return against France in Brisbane on July 5 still a possibility.

Speaking at the Wallabies' Sydney base on Thursday, the 22-year-old recalled the innocuous collision that ruled him out.

“I was just going through a tackle and just pulled up second best,” Polota-Nau told Sportal.

But despite the intense pain in his dominant throwing hand, the hard-running hooker says leaving the field was not an option he considered.

“I had to just battle through it (the pain),” he said.

“Super 14 finals, they don't come around very often so I had to just hope for the best and try to help the boys out.”

The injury could not have come at a worse time for Polota-Nau, who after a career-best season with the Waratahs, was in the running to displace incumbent number two Stephen Moore.

But the softly-spoken Sydneysider, who has not played for the Wallabies since 2006, remains positive despite the untimely setback.

“I think everyone's disappointed with injuries, it's just a matter of working through it and getting another crack at it,” said Polota-Nau.

“It probably gives me ample time to work on a few things besides the hand injury like overall niggles here and there.”

He will remain in camp with the squad for the remainder of the week as new coach Robbie Deans continues to put the players through their paces.