Quins flanker desperate to make up for lost time after injury layoff
FRUSTRATED Harlequins back rower Luke Wallace has revealed the gruesome extent of last summer’s horror hip dislocation that wrecked the first half of his campaign and left him fearing the worst.
Wallace, 27, fell victim to a vigorous clear-out during last August’s pre-season friendly at London Irish, leaving him with a leg pointing sideways and medics battling to ease his pain.
Wallace, fit again after a lengthy spell on the sidelines, told The Rugby
Paper: “I was competing for a ball in a ruck when one of their second rows took a run-up and hit me pretty hard. There was a pop and suddenly my leg was stuck in a different direction!
“The shock gets you through the initial pain but because my leg was at a weird angle, whenever they moved it that was when I was in most agony. They got me on morphine pretty fast but I knew straight away what had happened was serious.
“Lying there, I was thinking maybe this was it – and realistically it could have been.
“Fortunately, over the next week or so all the scans came back positive and it turned out I’d been very lucky with the lack of damage I’d done to the soft tissue around my pelvis. From being concerned about my career it was, ‘right, how quick can I get back?’”
Wallace returned during last month’s Big Game against Northampton at Twickenham and is now striving to assume a leadership role as Quins look to secure an Anglo-Welsh Cup semi-final place and bolster their chances of a top four Premiership finish.
He explained: “With Chris Robshaw definitely away with England and Renaldo Bothma having suffered a broken arm, it leaves a spot in our back row and as one of the more experienced guys in our squad I’m looking to really step up and lead now.
“Injuries are part of the game and I’d never had a serious one before, but in my position it was coming and the way I look at it is I’ve had six months off and, hopefully, that will be a springboard to playing my best rugby over the second half of my career.”
Wallace added: “We’re in with a chance in the AngloWelsh and I want to get in the best shape I can be for the Premiership. We’ve got huge games in February against Wasps, Leicester and Newcastle that, if we win them, can put us right back in the mix.
“One of John Kingston’s main aims this season was to strengthen our squad for these international periods – now we’ve got to prove we can do the job without our big guys.”
Forwards coach Nick Easter is a big fan of Wallace and believes his return will underpin Quins’ drive back into the Champions Cup. The former England No.8 said: “Wallace will make a massive difference to us from a physicality perspective, whether it’s ball-carrying, power tackling or turnover ability.
“Your back row and centres lead that charge – and having Jamie Roberts available from Wales will help – but it’s in the back row where we’ve been operating shortest of numbers for the whole season.
“We’ve had Ben Glynn, who’s a lock, playing at six, and Dave Ward, a hooker, playing at No.7 and while they’ve performed manfully, it’s not their No.1 position and it’s great to have that firepower back.
“Wallace provides that ball-winning nous and I’m confident we’ll overcome the loss of Chris Robshaw.”