Star flanker forced to comeback again from second knee reconstruction.
Former Australian captain David Pocock will miss the rest of the season after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament for the second time in two years, his Super 15 club the Brumbies announced.
The 25-year-old flanker — capped 46 times but who was replaced as national skipper by clubmate Ben Mowen for last November’s northern hemisphere tests — underwent a full reconstruction of his left knee on Wednesday.
Pocock, who missed the Four Nations tournament in 2012 because of another knee complaint, ruptured the ligaments in last Saturday’s Super 15 27-14 win against his former team Western Force.
Brumbies Director of Rugby Laurie Fisher said it was a massive blow.
“Having worked so hard to get himself back to peak physical condition over the last 12 months it’s impossible not to feel for David,” Fisher said.
“Only yesterday (Tuesday) he was speaking about how much enjoyment he’d been getting out of his rugby this year so to have him sitting out the rest of our campaign is bitterly disappointing for him and the rest of the team.
“What we must remember is that David is still young and will have more opportunities to play professional rugby in the future. Guys like Ben Mowen and Christian Lealiifano are living proof that you can make a successful comeback from a recurring injury and I’d expect to see David bounce back in the same way.
“Professionally, David has had a big impact on the way the Brumbies have prepared and approached the 2014 Super Rugby season and I’d like to see him continue to contribute to the way the team carries itself both on and off the field.”
Pocock has suffered nothing but injury woe since he made the move from the Force to the Brumbies 18 months ago which has seen him only able to play five Super 15 games for the franchise.
The Brumbies play the winless Hurricanes in Wellington, New Zealand, in their third Super 15 match of the campaign on Friday looking for their second successive win having lost their opening match.
COMMENTS