Milner-skudder starts recovery

Injured All Black Nehe Milnerskudder hopes to be back on the field in late April or May.

The Hurricanes wing, who dislocated his right shoulder in the first half of the All Blacks’ 25-24 win over the Springboks in Cape Town earlier this month, has started his road to recovery after an operation this week.

He said his surgeon was rapt with how his operation went.

Milner-skudder had his labrum, rotator cuff, supraspinatus and infraspinatus muscles and his bicep tendon repaired during the surgery. The 26-year-old turned to Facebook to update fans on his recovery.

‘‘Rehab/recovery should be around 6-7 months, however first stage is a couple weeks rest while the wounds heal and then go from there,’’ he wrote online.

‘‘I have learnt from past injuries to not worry about what is out of my control, take it one step at a time and focus on the ‘‘here&now’’. Combine those with a relentless drive to come back stronger and I know I’ve got this.’’

After breaking out for the All Blacks at the 2015 World Cup, a season which earned him World Rugby’s breakthrough player of the year award, Milner-skudder spent most of 2016 sidelined with a similar operation on his left shoulder which he dislocated while playing for the Hurricanes.

He returned to the field this season only to pick up a foot injury which meant another lengthy stint on the sidelines. He missed the All Blacks squad to play the British and Irish Lions, turning out for the Hurricanes and New Zealand Maori against the tourists instead.

Milner-skudder was then recalled to the All Blacks for the Rugby Championship, but missed out on the first couple of tests and was released to play for Manawatu¯ in provincial rugby. He was called into the starting side to face Argentina in New Plymouth and impressed enough to warrant starts in the two tests against South Africa.