Will Jordan: All Black on return to squad following injury

Will Jordan is back in black, following a season-long stint on the sideline. 

Sam Cane also sees a return – with the naming of the Rugby Championship squad squaring the line-up for the upcoming Argentina match. 

Jordan tells Mike Hosking his recovery from a shoulder surgery was slow but he is now back in full contact training. 

“It’s a bit of a journey – a long term injury like that.” 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
We've got the thirty six man squad for the Rugby Championship.

(00:02):
Among the names, Will Jordan's back along with Sam Cane,
David Heavili and the newcap Jordan Love of course and
Will Jordan's with us Morning brought Mike. Is it good
to be back.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
As good for you back? Yeah, it's been a wee
while in the wilderness this year, bit of a long
road back from the shoulder injuries. So I had a
bit of a taste with ads over the last three
or four weeks being in camp. Yes, nicely. Finally, yeah,
probably definitely.

Speaker 1 (00:28):
Group when you go through what you've gone through, and
it's a major both in time and terms of surgery,
how much can you do physically by way of rehab.

Speaker 2 (00:40):
It was a pretty quiet first couple of months, to
be fair. It was in a sling for about six weeks,
so you're pretty limited in that time. And then even
the first five or six weeks once I got that off, yeah,
the shot wasn't able to kind of get through too
much range or too much strength works, even passing and
that sort of thing work. So yeah, the first three

(01:01):
or four months are pretty slow going, just building into
the rehab and some by waits really and then probags.
The last month or two I've been able to train
with the team a bit more and then finally the
last two or three weeks back into full contact training.
So wow, yeah, there's a little bit slow going. So, yeah,
trying to get as many reps I can at this
stage now.

Speaker 1 (01:20):
And is that mental or is it physical or is
it both?

Speaker 2 (01:25):
It's a little bit of both. I think. Yeah, it's
a bit of a journey, long term injury like that,
so you have the ups and downs and different motivation,
and I think now as I closer to playing, you
start to dial in the mental a bit more, kind
of trusting that your shoulders in a good place. So
I've been able to take the bumps and bruises that
come with playing rugby and being confident that will all

(01:48):
stand up to the net. So that's kind of where
I've been in the last two weeks. Is yeah, trying
to get as much contact into it as possible, and yeah,
trust it and.

Speaker 1 (01:56):
Do they give you tools around that, because I don't
want to bore you will, but I've had an issue
and so I second guess manie all the time. Do
your second guess your shoulder or is that a natural
thing that you can go back into it and hit
contact or does someone have to tell you trust believe it.
I'm a doctor and I know, or how does that work?

Speaker 2 (02:14):
It is definitely a huge amount of that. We've got
a pretty good team around us, the abs and the
crusaders of physicist doctors who are there to give you
that and follow and trust it. And I think there's
different times where you want to push a little bit
more and sometimes you get held back at it as well.
So yeah, definitely put in a bit of confidence in

(02:35):
the team experience around you, and I think I finally
a point where you just got to, yeah, have faith
in what you've been doing, take more steps, and then yeah,
take the plunge in your.

Speaker 1 (02:45):
Back out there good stuff. What do you make of
the All Black so far this year? From what you've
seen England and Fiji.

Speaker 2 (02:52):
Been pretty impressed. I think, you know, I looked at
that English side that came games here, I thought they
were a pretty good outfit that tests us in a
lot of ways, particularly around their d so I think
they come away with two wins against them with a
real credit to the group. It's always a huge thing
to be able to win those tight test matches and
when it comes down to the last ten to fifteen minutes,

(03:13):
been able to find a way. It's hugely important. I
was pretty impressed a bench in that space and how
they were able to come on and create a real impact,
and I think that's been a key thing of good
all back teams in the past. And then I got
a chance to butt some new boys against Veji, which
was great dums opportunity, and I thought they played really well.

(03:33):
So I think it's a group that's finding their feats
and I'm excited to get back in there.

Speaker 1 (03:38):
Good stuff. Go well with it. Well, Jordan back with
the All Blakes for the Rugby Championship. The reason I
mentioned my injury, not to bore you witless, was I
watched on the news last night Andrew Savile, a man
well beyond his prime out on the rugby field raising
money for charity. So God bless them for that, But
looking in the sort of shape he shouldn't have been
actually physically involved in the game of rugby. What was

(04:00):
he doing out there for goodness sake?

Speaker 2 (04:02):
For more from the Mic Asking Breakfast, listen live to
news talks at b from six a m.

Speaker 1 (04:07):
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