NZ Sevens captain fighting injury ahead of Com Games

Reuters

DELISTED: New Zealand's DJ Forbes during their international rugby sevens pool match in Wellington in February.

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Captain DJ Forbes has joined fellow-veteran Tomasi Cama on the injury list and in a tight race to be fit for New Zealand's sevens rugby assault on the Commonwealth Games.

Forbes has barely run, let alone played a game of rugby, since New Zealand completed their International Rugby Board world series campaign in May.

He is struggling to overcome osteitis pubis, a painful groin injury which requires ample rest, hardly the recipe for peak performance at next month's Games.

He has been unable to train or play for Counties Manukau in the national provincial championship and couldn't rule out being dropped from coach Gordon Tietjens' squad.

"Potentially, there could be a chance," Forbes said.

"In terms of the rehab they predicted I'd be back on track in 2-3 weeks from now, around the time of our final camp.

"I'm pretty confident I'll be available but the question is how effective I can be and what percentage I can play at.

"I might get away with it back in the ITM Cup for Counties but not at Tietj's trainings."

Cama faces a similar scenario, having fractured his cheekbone while playing for Manawatu last month. The key playmaker is scheduled to return to the training field in about two weeks.

Forbes hoped a long coach/captain relationship with Tietjens may be in his favour when the illustrious coach considers all fitness matters.

The inspirational 27-year-old turned heads at the Wellington tournament last year when he played the entire second day while battling a hairline fracture in his lower leg.

"Tietj has always had a bit of faith in me to perform well," he said.

"Performance-wise he knows I've had time off but before the world series last year I was doing a similar thing."

"This time I've actually been told to stop running so I'm the worst I've been but I'm probably slightly ahead of the timeline. There's still a lot of pain but I'm starting to jog again."

New Zealand will chase their fourth consecutive Games gold medal when the two-day tournament begins in New Delhi on October 11.

- NZPA