KEY POINTS:
All Blacks lock Chris Jack is philosophical about an enforced spell on the sideline after tearing a hamstring tendon.
Playing his second game after returning to the Crusaders from the All Blacks' reconditioning programme, Jack limped off Sydney's Aussie Stadium midway through the first half against the Waratahs last Saturday when his knee took the weight of falling bodies.
He was yesterday ruled out of action for up to six weeks - but Jack said things could have been much worse.
"Obviously I'm a bit disappointed. I was pretty happy with the way things were going up until that point," he said.
Speaking after watching the Crusaders train before the match against Western Force at Jade Stadium on Saturday, Jack took a pragmatic view of the injury. "You play the sport and you've got a chance of being injured every week you play. I've been pretty lucky up until now. It's just one of those things."
Crusaders doctor Tony Page said Jack was lucky not to have damaged any major knee ligaments. "They've all been cleared and are currently nice and stable, so we're dealing with a tendon that's partially come off the bone," he said.
"There's still some attached, so we'll treat it like a normal hamstring tendon injury."
Page said it was hard to say definitively how long Jack would be out of the game. "It's likely to be a good few weeks ... maybe up to six weeks. We'll just take it week by week."
Jack said he was unsure how badly he had been hurt when his knee was crumpled backwards in a pile of bodies.
"I thought it was bad, but once the doc and the physio got out there and realised there wasn't too much structurally wrong, I thought it'd be all right."
He hoped to return to play before the end of the Super 14. "The guys are going pretty good and I could get a chance in the semifinals ... so hopefully if [coach Robbie Deans] has some faith in me I'll get another game."
Jack said he doubted the injury had anything to do with lack of game time during the All Blacks' reconditioning. "It's pretty much a rugby coincidence. It's just a freak incident. It could happen to anybody."
- NZPA
