Hurricanes hoping All Black can make miraculous return after horror injury
Hurricanes full-back Brett Cameron takes a shot at goal.
Hurricanes head coach Clark Laidlaw has revealed that his team could be bolstered by the possible return from injury of star playmaker Brett Cameron.
The Wellington-based outfit suffered a huge setback when Cameron was ruled out of the entire Super Rugby Pacific campaign after he ruptured his anterior cruciate ligaments while training for New Zealand National Provincial Championship outfit Manawatu last October.
But Laidlaw said the fly-half’s recovery from his injury is ahead of schedule and is hopeful the 28-year-old will still return to action for the Hurricanes this season.
Australia-bound for ‘specialist testing’
The coach said Cameron, who played one Test for the All Blacks against Japan in 2018, is heading to Australia where he will undergo specialist testing which is not available in New Zealand and once he returns home, they will have a clearer idea of how far his recovery has come along.
“He has been ridiculous around his rehab. He’s so far ahead of where we thought he was going to be,” Laidlaw told Stuff.
“We’re taking the steps for him to go to Australia. There’s a test he can’t get in New Zealand around the strength and the power within the knee. It’s an on-field test and if he comes through that we can make a plan from there.
“If he does come through that there’s a chance he could play this season. If he doesn’t and he’s a couple [of steps] away then it’ll be more unlikely he will play for us but he will certainly play for Manawatū.”
The Hurricanes have a fly-half crisis at the club as highly rated rookie Harry Godfrey is also sidelined with a leg injury which means Riley Hohepa is the only fit number 10 in their ranks.
Lost to the Crusaders
On Friday, the Hurricanes suffered a 31-24 defeat to the Crusaders in Wellington and Hohepa struggled to get his backline firing.
That loss leaves them in eighth position in the Super Rugby Pacific standings after eight matches played in the competition.
The Crusaders raced into a 31-10 lead early in the second half before the Hurricanes launched a late fightback and Laidlaw admitted that their poor start proved costly in the grander scheme of things.
“It felt like a long way back but we felt like we could chip at it… but that middle part of the second half, from halftime to 60 minutes, they were well on top and probably took the game away from us,” he said.
“It certainly felt we were in too much of a hurry and sometimes the harder we tried the harder it looked.”
The Hurricanes’ next matches will be in Australia against the Western Force and the Brumbies before they return to New Zealand to host the Chiefs in Wellington.