Tupaea eyeing ‘pretty daunting’ nine-month knee rehabilitation
ALL Blacks midfielder Quinn Tupaea admits the nine-month rehabilitation from his knee injuries is already a ‘‘pretty daunting’’ prospect, as much in the mental stakes as the physical.
The 23-year-old has spoken publicly for the first time since suffering ligament ruptures thanks to the ugly cleanout from Wallabies lock Darcy Swain in the Bledisloe Cup opener in Melbourne on September 15.
Tupaea made a deal with Newstalk ZB’s Jason Pine not to talk about Swain, and the resulting six-week ban handed his way, but opened up on the pain he felt at the time at Marvel Stadium, as well as the tough road ahead to next year’s World Cup.
He recalled thinking he had won a penalty, and then the ’’a bit of force’’ hitting his knee from the side.
‘‘It actually hurt quite a bit, and when I got up to test it myself, my knee just sort of collapsed inwards.’’
But last week he got the dreaded news of his rehab time going from three months to nine months after scans showed the extent of the damage.
Tupaea, who goes under the knife on Friday, said it would be a massive challenge to make the World Cup squad from here.
He is expecting to lean on the support of his partner, along with his family who live close by in his Hamilton home town, and particularly mental skills coaches Gilbert Enoka (All Blacks) and Aaron Walsh (Chiefs) during his time out of the game.
‘‘I think that’ll be very important for the next nine months as well, because I’m guessing there’s going to be some pretty tough times,’’ he said.
‘‘Especially over the summer break, I don’t think I’m allowed to go swimming in December, January, or walk on sand. So it’s going to be tough, those sort of things, mentally. Just staring
down the barrel of a nine-month injury’s already pretty daunting.’’
But he was gratified by the support from the All Blacks management and the New Zealand public.