All Blacks second-five Quinn Tupaea has broken his silence on the injury that ruled him out of rugby for nine months, and potentially next year's World Cup in France.
Tupaea, 23, was on the receiving end of a horrific cleanout attempt by Wallabies forward Darcy Swain in New Zealand's Bledisloe Cup win at Melbourne.
He was initially expected to only miss around three months, but further scans revealed he needs surgery to repair his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).
Tupaea has recounted the moments that led to his injury, and is already mapping his return with surgery scheduled for next week.
"I thought I'd won a penalty, heard the whistle go and then I just felt a bit of force hit my knee from the side," he told Newstalk ZB.
"I've done my MCL before so I sort of knew what it felt like and that's what it felt like initially… I just knew straight away.
"It actually hurt quite a bit and when I got up to test it myself, my knee just sort of collapsed inwards.
"I got the news on Monday or Tuesday, so I've had a few days to process it and yeah, it's been pretty tough but I think I'm coming through the other side here.
"I'll be in a brace for six weeks or something, but be moving the whole time and yeah, just slowly chipping away at it and hopefully be back playing in nine months. That's the goal at the moment."
Tupaea's lengthy layoff will mean he will miss the Chiefs' entire Super Rugby campaign, and will be in a race against time to prove his fitness for All Blacks coach Ian Foster's World Cup squad.
But he is embracing the challenge, and is confident in his support group to get him back up and running in the black jersey.
"Nine months is a long time but that sort of gives me a few months of rugby next year with the Mooloos hopefully and then giving myself the best chance of making that World Cup squad is a massive motivator for myself as well," he told Newstalk ZB.
"I think the mental side is gonna be massive just as much as the physical side and I think I have the right people in place to help me get through it.
"I was starting to feel a lot more comfortable, I played seven of the eight games and it was awesome to feel involved every week and even coming off the bench was cool… this injury's come at a niggly time, I was starting to feel good in there so it's a bit of shame that I'm gonna be out for a while."
