Lambie in good frame of mind
Cell C Sharks captain Pat Lambie says he is in a positive state of mind after a two month injury-enforced break from rugby.
The Cell C Sharks and Springbok flyhalf was ruled out of action for 8 weeks, having fractured a vertebra in round three of the 2017 Super Rugby competition. He returned to action off the bench last weekend in the Sharks' win over the Force.
Lambie has certainly had his fair share of bad luck when it comes to injuries but he’s made successful returns over the past three seasons and approached his most recent setback in the same manner.
“It’s really nice to be back, it’s never nice sitting on the side lines but thankfully it went pretty quickly. It’s been great to be with the team again over the last few weeks,” Lambie said.
The 26-year-old had his most trying season in 2016. It’s hard to forget his sickening clash with Ireland flank CJ Stander last June, which left Lambie sidelined for a chunk of the season with an onset of migraines as a result of the concussion he suffered.
He made a return late last year in the Currie Cup and also featured for the Springboks during the tail end of the Rugby Championship and on their end of year tour. In comparison to his difficult road to recovery last year, Lambie’s return to play seemed far more straight forward in 2017.
“It was rest for the first three weeks. I had to wear one of those corsets which wasn’t all that pleasant but it was necessary. Once that was off I was back on the bike and in the gym. I had a good three or four weeks in the gym before I started running again and once I started running it was quite a quick process getting back on the field getting some rugby training under the belt,” he said.
“I’ve been very lucky with all the injuries I’ve had, none of them have given me any complications with my return to play. I’ve completely healed and recovered from all of them, including this back injury.”
As much as the body needs time to heal, it is often the mind that takes more strain in the wake of a bad injury. With three bad injuries in three consecutive seasons, Lambie says it’s only natural to be pensive in the wake of some bad news.
“I had to deal with all those questions, it was quite a challenge. I guess I had a few bad days, especially in the first couple of weeks after it happened. You say things like, ‘why me’ and ‘oh no not again, what have I done wrong’,” the flyhalf said.
“Luckily I’ve got a great medical team, the coaches have been very supportive and obviously my family has been incredible throughout this time. I’ve been in a good space, a good frame of my mind for the last seven or eight weeks.”
Lambie will have watched plenty of rugby while he worked his way back to full fitness and he was fairly complimentary to his teammates and the progress they’ve made.
“I definitely have, there have been some good weeks and not so good ones. All in all I’ve been very pleased to see how the side has been tracking,” he said.
“I think we had a really nice win over the Western Force, we were disappointed to not have finished with a bonus point. We certainly created enough opportunities to give ourselves a chance of that bonus point. At this stage we really want to build some nice momentum before the June break. We’ve got a few tough games ahead but I think if we put in some good performances we can be sitting in a really good position ahead of the international window.”
The Sharks captain also praised Curwin Bosch for stepping up to the plate. Much like a young Lambie a few years ago, Bosch has shown incredible maturity for a player his age and filled the void left by Lambie incredibly well.
“I’ve been very impressed by Curwin, especially with his kicking. He strikes the ball beautifully. There aren't many players that I’ve seen that kick the ball as well as he does. I think he’s grown as well as a person; he’s had to take on a lot of responsibility. Hopefully he keeps going from strength to strength for the Baby Boks and the Sharks when he returns.”
Turning attention back to the task at hand this weekend, the Sharks travel to Port Elizabeth to take on the Kings. The hosts have been excellent form and are expecting a full crowd to get behind them at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
With a spot in Super Rugby next season on the line, the Kings are going to throw everything at the Sharks and tempers are bound to flare. The Sharks skipper says his teammates will need to stay composed.
“We’ll leave all that fiery stuff up to the forwards upfront. But I think it’s important that we all keep calm heads, we’ve got a job to do and we’ll focus on playing hard and playing fair. We know that they’re going to be up for it considering the potential big turnout at the stadium. Hopefully that atmosphere will be something we can draw on as well,” Lambie said.
“There are some calm heads and some fiery characters as well so we’ll have to get the balance right, keep each other in check and fire each other up when we need to."
The Sharks take on the Kings on Saturday. Kickoff is at 17h15.