Cane eyes September return to rugby

All Blacks captain Sam Cane is eyeing up Bay of Plenty’s last couple of NPC premiership games for his return to rugby after a shoulder reconstruction was required as part of the surgery for his torn pectoral tendon.

Cane suffered the chest injury in the Chiefs’ Super Rugby Aotearoa victory over the Blues on March 27, with initial assessments giving him between four to six months out of the sport.

‘‘Frustrating’s a good word, it’s probably where I was at the early stages just after diagnosis,’’ Cane told new sports radio station SENZ yesterday.

‘‘I’d been told I tore my pec, but when they went in and had a look there were three other things that needed tidying up.

‘‘So the first initial thought was four to six months, which is the pec range. Once I ended up getting the full shoulder reconstruction it was always going to be six months,’’ he said.

Cane said his rehabilitation was progressing well.

It was no surprise Cane’s name was missing from the 36-man squad named yesterday by All Blacks coach Ian Foster for the Rugby Championship and Bledisloe Cup tests, with the regular skipper saying his international aim is the end-of-season northern hemisphere tour. Before that, he is targeting the last couple of NPC games the Bay of Plenty Steamers have before the playoffs.

‘‘I’ve looked at where the sixmonth mark sits post-surgery and there’re two or three games on the Bay of Plenty schedule before playoffs; it would be be pretty nice to be able to pull on the Bay jersey,’’ he said.

BOP’s last regular championship games are against Taranaki on September 26, Wellington on October 2 and Counties Manukau on October 10.

However, Cane said he would not be getting his hopes up and would make sure his body was right before playing rugby again.