"Confronting and scary" is how All Blacks star Rieko Ioane has described the headknock that's kept him sidelined for the past fortnight.
Before this season, Ioane had never had a single headknock in his eight years as a professional - now he's had two in six weeks and it's opened his eyes to the realities of protecting his head.
It might be pouring rain, but Ioane couldn't be happier to be back on the training field. The Blues centre is back to full contact and is raring to play after a difficult fortnight on the sidelines.
"It's definitely confronting," he told Newshub. "You really see the realities of how serious concussions can be.
"I'm really grateful and, God willing, it doesn't happen again."
Until this season, Ioane had enjoyed a concussion-free career. His first headknock against NSW Waratahs was an eye-opener, but his second against Melbourne Rebels six weeks later much worse.
"I was just unbalanced and couldn't remember much," he said. "It took about an hour to really come to terms with everything."
Ioane needed teammates and medical staff to help him from the field, and he had lingering headaches the next day, but began to come right soon after. He could've done without the setback.
"Concussions are so serious, especially that second one I got that was pretty scary, but the body and mind is fully recovered now," said Ioane.
Now that he's back, Ioane's keen to make a statement against the Crusaders, with memories of past encounters at Christchurch no doubt fuelling him this weekend.
"My 100th, [brother Akira's] 100th... and they've dealt to us both times, so we definitely owe them one," he said.
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