A three half-hour video's has been compiled and the first was shown on TV tonight. A number of issues were raised in respect of whether he would in fact recover to play in the WC and I would deal with it later.
The programme aired tonight dealt with Jean's history in rugby and the injuries he sustained by him prior to his latest one. That was followed by the injury in the Wales test which was covered extensively. The fact that De Allende went to him when he was carried off the field on a stretcher and even in pain Jean patted him and obviously encouraged him - showed a lot of the relationship between the two players and the abiding interest of De Villiers in the success of his team.
That was followed by an explanation of the specialist about what went wrong and what had to be done to correct the problem with his knee. It was from that discussion clear how serious the injury in fact was and what had to be done to ensure that the damage done was properly repaired.
There were also a discussion with the physio of the team and she indicated how the post-operation of the injury is being treated. It was clear that even her physical massaging of the knee initially was very painful - but it got better with time.
The three issues I referred to initially are -
* the medical aspect - will he be physically able to play;
* the psychological issue; and
* the extent to which De Villiers apply himself in training.
There stills seems to be some hesitation about whether Jean would recover to the extent that he would be able to play rugby on the highest level. The signs are positivie, but it was repeated by his specialist, by the physiotherapist and by jean's father that the issue is as much a recovery from injury only -another major consideration is psychological - it rests to a large extent on Jean's own determination whether he would play in future or not.
What is clear is that Jean is absolutely determined to go all the way to ensure that he recovers and that he will be in the world cup and play a role in winning the cup. At this stage he is doing a lot of gym work and is gradually putting more strain on the knee. He is using cycling to strengthen the knee ligaments and his legs in particular. He is apparently 100% determined to get back on the field of play and participating in the WC tournament.
it would be interesting to see what comes up in the remaining two instalments on the recovery issue. There will most likely be some clearer indications of the way ahead.
