“The game was in the balance at that point. It didn’t restrict my ability to play and perform, so I was happy to carry on.”
Cane had the left side of his face checked by the team doctor immediately after the match and while he thought his tour was over, the fact he couldn’t feel much pain gave him some hope that perhaps the issue wasn’t as bad as he believed.
However, a visit to a local hospital for a CT scan revealed two fractures; one below his left eye, and another off to the left of it. His tour was over, and he will have to see a specialist upon his return to New Zealand to determine whether surgery will be required to repair the breaks.
“To see it on the scan, I was really looking forward to these next few games and looking forward to hopefully finishing the year really strong as a team, as a captain and as an individual,” he said.
For Cane, it’s the latest of several injury setbacks in his career including well-documented neck and pectoral injuries, and concussion issues.
He said the recovery process never gets any easier.
“It’s always really shit when it happens. It’s just a bit of a mental roller-coaster I suppose; the highs and the lows. The injuries are certainly some of the lows, and knowing the work that goes into getting on the field, you just want to be out there with your teammates doing what you can to perform well and play well in the black jersey.”
Cane won’t be alone on his return to New Zealand, with Dane Coles suffering a calf injury in the warm-up for the test in Japan and being forced out of the tour as well.
All Blacks coach Ian Foster revealed that while Coles’ injury wasn’t a major issue, it would likely keep him sidelined for three weeks and Coles knew what decision had to be made.
“We had a good heart-to-heart last night,” Foster said.
“In true Colesy style, he was the one who said ‘look, Foz, I’ve got to go home. I can’t hang around here moping for three weeks.’ It was a joint decision, but a reasonably obvious one.”
