Campese injury fears ease

Press, 29 August 1986, Page 38

Campese injury fears ease

By

STEVE McMORRAN

NZPA staff correspondent Rotorua Fears eased yesterday about the condition of the Wallaby full-back, David Campese, whose injury against Southland on Wednesday threatened his availability for the tourists’ deciding test against New Zealand at Eden Park tomorrow week. Campese was thought to have pulled a hamstring but the coach, Alan Jones, said yesterday there were

encouraging signs that the injury was not as serious as first thought. "Campese has improved since yesterday,” Mr Jones said. “It’s not a hartistring, most probably only a nerve. Though he’s still sore and he’s got a lot of work to do I’ll be looking to play him on Tuesday.” Mr Jones admitted that Campese’s injury had reshaped his plans for the gifted back between the second and third

tests. “The injury is something that we could afford to be without but it’s there and we’ve got to handle it,” he said. “Given that he had an injury before the second test, he hasn’t had a lot of football and yesterday I just wanted to get some rugby into him. "His problem is not a lack of confidence but a question of a lack of football. He’s had the two games at Carisbrook and

Athletic Park and both grounds have just been bogs, not conducive to his sort of rugby.” Mr Jones said Campese would have played tomorrow against Bay of Plenty and on Tuesday against Thames Valley to remedy his lack of match play. He will now miss Saturday’s match but may be fit to play the third division union in the tourists’ final provincial match at Thames next week.