Super Rugby
McCaw pencils in April return
ESPNscrum Staff
February 14, 2012
Crusaders skipper Richie McCaw tries his hand at bumper boats at the Kiwi launch of Super Rugby, Auckland, New Zealand, February 14, 2012
Richie McCaw at the New Zealand launch of Super Rugby 2012 © Getty Images
Enlarge
Related Links
Players/Officials: Richie McCaw
Tournaments/Tours: Super Rugby

Crusaders skipper Richie McCaw has earmarked April as a realistic date for his return to the field.

McCaw is recovering from foot surgery after playing through the pain barrier for much of last year with the injury. But with the World Cup won, McCaw underwent the surgeon's knife to rectify the injury and while the Crusaders would have hoped to have McCaw back and firing for the start of the season, the All Blacks skipper is likely to sit out the first five rounds of the 2012 Super Rugby season.

Matt Todd deputised for McCaw with distinction last year and will hope to get his chance at openside once again in the skipper's absence. And McCaw is reluctant to put an exact time frame on his return, but he has suggested it is likely to be in April rather than March.

"I'll progress over the next few weeks to hopefully get back out on the field soon, but hopefully it's all behind me," McCaw said. "By March, I should be pretty close to knowing when I'll be back, but I'd say some time in April. But I don't want to put too tight a time frame on it.

"Start straight line running and then walk, jog, that's what we're doing at the moment. Then you go to being able to run for a bit longer, then a bit of change of direction and then team training and then playing."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

Live Sports

Communication error please reload the page.

ABOUT COOKIES

To help make this website better, to improve and personalize your experience and for advertising purposes, are you happy to accept cookies and other technologies.

More Info Here Cookie Choices