Love tunes back into business for Canes
Ruben Love joked that it was old age creeping in when he suffered a groin injury less than two weeks after turning 21.
The young playmaker has finally received the all-clear to return after hurting his groin while taking a shot at goal during the Hurricanes’ 53-12 win over Moana Pasifika on April 12.
Love will make his comeback from fullback against a Melbourne Rebels side that must win at Sky Stadium tonight to keep their Super Rugby Pacific season alive, with Aidan Morgan retaining his spot at first-five.
He said missing a decent chunk of the season due to injury had been tough, especially as he thought he would only be sidelined for a couple of weeks when he did it.
‘‘I can’t remember what it’s called, it was something to do with the attachment between my groin and my hip and it just got a bit of fluid and inflammation there. I thought it was only going to be a two-week stand down but it turned out to be six weeks,’’ Love said.
‘‘It was just goalkicking. We had a game on the Saturday against the Crusaders and had to play again on the Tuesday and my kicks must have been up in quantity.
‘‘I did a kick from right in front against Moana and just felt it straight away and had to come off, and six weeks later I’m finally back on the field.’’
Love said he chose not to watch any of the Hurricanes games live during his rehabilitation period. Instead, he read books and listened tomusic.
‘‘Every time they were on live I tried to stay away from it. I took a different approach.
‘‘I’d still do the reviews the next day when we watched it on the portal but I couldn’t really handle it emotionally I guess because of FOMO [fear of missing out]. I love seeing the team go well but I just couldn’t watch it.
‘‘What got me through was a bit of the Foo Fighters and a couple of books I was reading and a lot of family time as well.’’
Love said he did not anticipate his role would change much with the No 15 on the back of his jersey, having rotated between first-five and fullback with Morgan for Wellington during last year’s NPC.
‘‘[At] 10 or 15, you’re in the back field a lot, you’re behind the forwards and you’re a playmaker.
‘‘It’s just a case of getting accustomed to the Wellington wind and making sure I’ve been getting some high balls in this week.
‘‘[Morgan] is like my brother. He’s awesome. We’ve played against each
other since high school and we just keep bouncing stuff off each other.
‘‘It’s awesome to play 10-15 with him.
‘‘We just keep rotating. We’ve done it for the Lions and we just need to come up with some celebrations that can be put in use over the next few years.’’
Love’s actual brother will also be representing the Hurricanes this weekend with younger sibling Logan, a promising halfback, earning selection in the under-20 squad after overcoming a serious shoulder injury.
Love said it would be a dream come true if the pair of them got to team up at Super Rugby level one day.
‘‘I hope he’s not listening but I actually looked up to him for a lot of my youth,’’ he said.
‘‘He was always captain of his teams and he’s always been a sharp halfback-first-five and he always made the A teams that I didn’t make.
‘‘But I’m just glad he’s back playing now. He’s been through the trenches a bit with his shoulder.
‘‘We went for a swim at Oriental Beach and I said to him the night before I had a dream that we were playing against each other ... but it’d be more special to me if we played with each other and had the whole whānau come across.’’
The fifth-placed Hurricanes are already assured a playoff berth thanks to Super Rugby Pacific’s generous finals format, but the motivation for them over the final two rounds is to catch the Chiefs and secure hosting rights for the quarterfinals.
They will be without captain Ardie Savea, who has been rested, for tonight’s clash against the Rebels.