TPN hopes PCL not ACL
WARATAHS hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau says he is prepared play on this season even with a damaged ligament in his left knee.
That was the good news for the Waratahs yesterday, with the knee injury sustained by their wrecking-ball forward in Friday night’s loss to the Crusaders less serious than initially reported.
He left the field early in the game but fears of a potentially season-ending anterior cruciate ligament injury were off the mark.
MRI scans scheduled for tomorrow are expected to show Polota-Nau has damaged a posterior cruciate ligament or has a badly bruised his knee joint.
“A lot of gridiron boys play without [the posterior cruciate ligament]. A few rugby guys as well. It is a common injury but I guess we will play it by ear,” Polota-Nau said yesterday.
“It’s probably the best one to do in terms of knee injuries. Hopefully I can just jump straight into rehab and be back in two weeks. We have the depth to cover hooker so I guess there’s no rush.”
NSW medical staff were reluctant to offer any time frame for the return of Polota-Nau – but it will be a recovery measured in weeks, rather than months.
NSW have Damien Fitzpatrick and John Ulugia as back-ups but coach Chris Hickey expects Polota-Nau to return this season.
The harsh reality of life without Polota-Nau was exposed by a Crusaders team whose form belied a preparation affected by the Christchurch earthquake.
Without Polota-Nau, the NSW scrum was beaten for power and the Waratahs’ defensive line had little of the sting it had against Queensland a week earlier.
NSW had to make 183 tackles, but missing 29 tackles was still way too many. They missed only 13 and eight in the first two games and arm-grabbing the likes of Sonny Bill Williams is impossible.
And getting the dominant defence back on track could be made a lot harder with another injury cloud over centre Rob Horne.
The tough-tackling No 13 left the field with an injury to the same right elbow ligament which was surgically repaired last year. He will also have scans tomorrow.
The Waratahs have a bye next weekend and will play the Cheetahs at home a week later.
Hickey said he expected both Wycliff Palu (hamstring) and Berrick Barnes (concussion) to be back on the paddock by then.
It’s likely the next fortnight will be taken up addressing the issues thrown up by the Crusaders game. One problem that needs urgent attention is goalkicking.
After wobbly performances by Barnes in the first two rounds, Daniel Halangahu’s failure to kick three goals in the opening quarter in Nelson allowed the Crusaders to stay in touch, despite two early NSW tries.
The Waratahs are kicking just 46 per cent after three games – down from 76 per cent in 2010.
“If you are playing the top sides, you have to collect all the points on offer,” Hickey said. “If you think about it, it’s three tries each so the difference in score came with kicking.”
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/rugby/polota-no-tahs-cut-to-the-bone/story-e6frey4i-1226016370867
