Exeter Chief forward Sam Simmonds admits he has found it difficult to stay positive during his injury lay-off but hopes to return this season. Simmonds has been sidelined since late September after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament in the victory over Worcester Warriors.
The initial prognosis was for a six to nine month absence but he has responded well to rehabilitation and looks likely to come in at the lower end of that estimate.
He admits it has been tough to watch his teammates in action but hopes to return to the field before the 2018-19 campaign concludes.
Simmonds told Exeter’s website: “I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. “I think it’s coming up to four-and-a-half months and it has been tough.
Not just watching the boys play every week but being around them and seeing what they’re doing – you wish you were out there doing the same. I’ve worked hard and the physios have pushed me.
“This is probably the hardest I’ve worked to get where I am now and I still have a couple of months left. Hopefully I’ll get some rugby before the end of the season.
“It’s a sport I love and I know that to be at the top there are going to be injuries, but Jamie [Fulton] – the head physio – likes to put me through my paces quite a bit.
“I know I’m coming through those days and the weeks are getting shorter and it’s something that I need to do to get back, not to full strength but to stronger than I was before.
I want to improve on how I played before and my speed and stuff like that. Hopefully then I’ll come back more powerful and even quicker than I was before.”
