Sam Cane is in line to make his return to rugby for the Chiefs this weekend after overcoming a neck injury that kept him sidelined since late last year.
Cane's status for 2019 was thought to be in doubt after he fractured his neck while playing for the All Blacks in South Africa last October. However, the loose forward has proved his fitness to get some much needed game time under his belt.
Cane was named on the bench for the Chiefs, who go into a vital clash against the Blues in Auckland this week. Speaking to the Herald in January, he admitted he had no clear return date, but was hopeful he would be able to "get a sneaky couple of games" at the end of the season.
"As bad as the injury was, I also, in a funny way, felt pretty lucky because it could have been a lot worse," Cane said. "We're only a couple of millimetres away from never playing again so in a funny way I was pretty grateful that I was going to be OK and, one: I was going to be able to live a healthy, normal life and two: to get back playing rugby is awesome."
