Skinstad: I'm 100 percent
January 15, 2001

Springbok, Stormers and Western Province flanker Bob Skinstad has confirmed that he has completely recovered from the knee injury that sidelined him for the better part of a year.

Skinstad, who played his first match in the Springbok Sevens trials on Wednesday since the semifinal against Australia in the 1999 World Cup, expressed his desire to start playing again and prove all his critics wrong.

"It's been frustrating, having to watch games from the sidelines for such a long period," he told the Cape Argus. "It is not great missing out on the game you love. But as much as it was frustrating sitting out, it is equally satisfying to be back with the guys."

"One of the things that motivated me to come back was the fact that some people did not want me to return to the game. You will always have those kind of people around," he said. "However, I had the support of my family and close friends, as well as medical staff who believed I could play again. I, too, believed I would make it so that was enough motivation not to give up."

Skinstad was included in coach Norman Mbiko's squad for the Sevens World Cup later this month and will line-up alongside current Springboks Breyton Paulse, Joost van der Westhuizen and Ricardo Loubscher at the tournament. "Norman has been good to me. He did not put any pressure on me to be ready at a certain time."

The tournament gets underway in Mar del Plata in Argentina from January 26.

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