McCaw hoping for April return

Richie McCaw does not expect to make a return to Super Rugby until at least April after undergoing foot surgery.

The All Blacks captain battled the injury during last autumn’s successful World Cup campaign, when a screw that had been inserted in his right foot to fix a fracture before last year’s Super Rugby competition instead only served to aggravate him. McCaw subsequently had the screw removed but doubts he would play for the Canterbury Crusaders again before April.

“The foot is really good. I’ve just started back running,” the 31-year-old said at the New Zealand launch of the Super Rugby competition.

“I’ll progress over the next few weeks to hopefully get back out on the field soon, but hopefully it’s all behind me. By March, I should be pretty close to knowing when I’ll be back, but I’d say some time in April. But I don’t want to put too tight a time frame on it.”