Springbok fly-half Handre Pollard said he should be fit for South Africa’s end-of-year tour to the Northern Hemisphere in November.
Pollard suffered a knee injury in Round Three of the Rugby Championship against the Wallabies and has been sidelined since.
Reduced time out
The initial diagnosis ruled the pivot out for a significant period, but a second look at his new club Leicester Tigers, has revealed promising news for the Springbok star.
The 28-year-old confirmed that the knee injury is unrelated to his ACL tear suffered during his time at Montpellier and is optimistic his return to play will be soon.
“The body is good,” Pollard told the Leicester Mercury. “I am really coming along nicely. (I’m) Just trying to get as much done as possible. I’ve still got a couple of boxes to tick, from the initial diagnosis we had in Australia. I’ve come back to London and got a different one, which was a lot more positive.
“I’m working hard, it’s really feeling good, so we will see how we go on from here.
“This is completely different (to the ACL tear he sustained while at Montpellier). It’s a little bit of a tear in the meniscus. It’s a lot better than we originally thought, and it’s going really well.
“We’re still taking it day by day, but I am very excited and optimistic.
“I should be good to go for the end-of-year series.”
Pollard opened up that having former Springbok head of performance Aled Walters at Tigers was key to deciding to join the Premiership club.
“He is unbelievable, world, world-class and he is a massive reason I decided to come here. There’s no hiding from it. What he did for us in those two years with the Springboks, we were by far in the best shape of our lives,” he said.
“With them and me personally, the way he does stuff, it’s something me and my body reacts really well to.
“Apart from being a brilliant coach at what he does, he’s an unbelievable person and he’s great to have in a squad. The singing is not great, but it’s great to have a guy like that in the group.”
The fly-half admits his wife has done most of the work in their move to England and claimed he always wanted to play rugby in the country.
“I didn’t expect to be here so soon. I got to settle in under calmer circumstances. My missus has been here for a few months now … she’s sorted out the house. I missed all the heavy lifting and the building of the cupboards. That’s been great. I am staying in Market Harborough,” he said.
“It’s a big learning from moving to France a few years ago. We sorted the house before we came over, which made the transition so much easier.
Always wanted to play in England
“I’ve always wanted to come to England. I wanted to come here three years ago, but there wasn’t really the opportunity so I had to go elsewhere. When the opportunity came up with Fordy (George Ford) going on, it was a no-brainer for me.
“My wife and I always wanted to come to England. We never had the opportunity. Getting an opportunity at a club like this, it’s something you can’t pass on.
“I knew what Steve (Borthwick, Leicester coach) and the boys were doing, it’s clearly going in the right direction. Speaking to Aled – who has been with them throughout the whole process, a guy that I rate very highly and really respect – you could see they were on track to do something special.
“Didn’t quite expect it to happen that quickly like last season already but it’s brilliant. Being at a club like this, personally I’ve still got a lot of ambitions to really win some stuff and improve a lot as a player.”
Pollard’s return is massive for the Springboks, who are struggling with a fly-half crisis after Frans Steyn was forced to fill the void in the final round of the Rugby Championship.
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