New Zealand prop Greg Somerville took his first steps to an international comeback with a club appearance at the weekend.
Somerville was on the pitch for 40 minutes with his club side Merivale/Lincoln University hours before his All Blacks team-mates defeated South Africa in Durban.
The veteran Crusaders prop underwent major surgery on his Achilles tendon last year.
“I was a bit stiff and sore overall today but that’s just the usual thing from the first real contact hit-out. The Achilles was fine, maybe even feeling better than it’s been,” Somerville told The Christchurch Press.
“The plan is, providing I’m going all right, to look to step it up each week. The first 10 minutes or so I was gasping but then I got my second wind and felt fine. I could have gone on but the medical people want to manage it.”
The Canterbury front-rower was included in the All Blacks 22-man pre-season reconditioning programme and as such is expected to make the World Cup squad if fit.
Somerville was on the pitch for 40 minutes with his club side Merivale/Lincoln University hours before his All Blacks team-mates defeated South Africa in Durban.
The veteran Crusaders prop underwent major surgery on his Achilles tendon last year.
“I was a bit stiff and sore overall today but that’s just the usual thing from the first real contact hit-out. The Achilles was fine, maybe even feeling better than it’s been,” Somerville told The Christchurch Press.
“The plan is, providing I’m going all right, to look to step it up each week. The first 10 minutes or so I was gasping but then I got my second wind and felt fine. I could have gone on but the medical people want to manage it.”
The Canterbury front-rower was included in the All Blacks 22-man pre-season reconditioning programme and as such is expected to make the World Cup squad if fit.
365 Digital
