'Smiley' wants Bok jersey back
February 12, 2001

Werner Swanepoel is confident he can regain the form that made him an automatic choice for the Bok No 9 jersey last year.

The Cats scrumhalf, who on Saturday made his comeback after reconstructive surgery on his shoulder, said he came through the warm-up match with the Sharks feeling fine. "It feels really good," he told the Sunday Independent.

"The specialist reckons the recovery is complete. I would only have played the last 20 or 30 minutes this weekend, but I thought I would explore the possibility of starting the match. It doesn't matter how fit you are - you have to test yourself in a match situation."

Swanepoel admits this injury, sustained during last season's Currie Cup, was his worst thus far. "This was definitely one of my biggest injuries. The injury I sustained in the Super 12 when Ollie le Roux fell on me took eight weeks to heal, but it wasn't as debilitating as this one.

"I didn't require surgery for the first one but I did for my last injury. This one was reasonably serious in the sense that they had to replace all my ligaments and remove a piece of my collarbone."

But the former Free State star believes he can fight his way back and become the country's leading scrumhalf again. "I will play my game as I know best, but I firmly believe that a lot will depend on the Cats' form. I believe I'm good enough to be No 1 again, but now it's a case of getting match fit going out there to prove it."

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