Aug 28 (Reuters) – Injury-prone Wallabies winger Drew
Mitchell faces a possible year out of rugby after rupturing an
ankle tendon in Australia’s 22-0 Bledisloe Cup mauling by New
Zealand at the weekend.
Mitchell was making his first test start in 11 months in
Auckland but is now sweating on his future after re-injuring the
same tendon which sidelined him for much of 2011.
“I’m not too sure if I’ll be lacing them up in the next 12
months or so,” the Waratahs player told Australian media.
“The healing that needs to be done is pretty significant.”
Mitchell recovered in time to make last year’s World Cup,
only for his participation in the tournament was cut short by a
hamstring problem.
The 28-year-old played denied that he had come back to
Wallabies side too quickly after playing just eight matches in
the run-up to Saturday’s Rugby Championship clash.
“When you damage a tendon like that or a muscle, the
integrity of it is never back to where it was prior to the
initial injury,” Mitchell added.
“That’s probably been the case now. People may argue or
question whether I came back too early, but all the strength was
there.
“All the tests and scans, everything indicated it was fine
and I was back to feeling fine out there.
“Unfortunately the knock I got was enough to damage it
further than it was before and rupture it entirely the way
through.”
The Wallabies, struggling with injuries to several key
players, take on tournament new boys Argentina in their next
game in Perth on Sept. 8.
(Reporting by Alastair Himmer in Tokyo; Editing by John
O’Brien)
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