'It was the worst pain': Josh Wycherley finally set for Munster return
COMEBACK: Josh Wycherley during Munster training on Tuesday. He has been out of action since early October. Pic: ©INPHO/James Crombie
How long has Josh Wycherley been out of action now? Well, put it this way, Graham Rowntree still had another four weeks to run before leaving Munster when the loosehead last played for the province.
The second of Wycherley’s appearances this season came back in late September away to Zebre. It was in training the following week when he hit a maul, his neck tilted to the right and one of his discs slipped out, prolapsed and literally touched a nerve.
He was in surgery by the Friday.
Sleep was fleeting and difficult after the incident. It took a few days just to get the right medication. That helped, enormously, but the pain was bad from the off. It shot the full length of his arm and he doesn’t hold back when describing it.
“It was the worst pain I’ve had, to be honest. You hear about nerve [pain] but until you have it bad you don't actually realise how bad. I was very lucky, in fairness to everyone here, and got the surgery done very quick, so I was out of pain very quickly, but that week was horrific.”
Wycherley had two weeks of total inactivity before the rehab started under the watchful eye of physio Ray McGinley. There was a lot of harness work as they went about strengthening the neck again and he was back scrummaging a couple of weeks ago.
His timing is perfect as the Scarlets come to Limerick this weekend.
Dian Bleuler, signed as loosehead cover when Wycherley, Dave Kilcoyne and Jeremy Loughman all reported to sick bay, was called back to South Africa by the Sharks after Munster’s last outing, against the Dragons late last month.
The 25-year-old Bleuler, signed to fill a gaping hole, was a revelation. He played seven times, all starts, with four of them in the Champions Cup. There were even two tries thrown in for good measure during his two-month stint.
Rarely has a medical joker been so successful.
With him gone, and Kilcoyne (thigh) and Loughman (hip) still unavailable, that leaves Wycherley and Mark Donnelly, who turned out for Cork Constitution in their AIL Division 1A win over City of Armagh last week, as the fit and available looseheads.
John Ryan, a tighthead, has helped out there too.
“You'd be sick enough not to be out there with the lads, only watching on,” said Wycherley, “but when you're rehabbing and you're very busy here all the time too it flies by. Before you know it you’re back running out there again so it’s exciting.”
He returns to the field under the gaze of a new forwards coach in Alex Codling who has taken on the role on a consultancy basis, and with the comfort of a new two-year contract, recently signed, in his back pocket.
And he is only one among a number of Munster players returning, or on the way to returning, to fitness as the season picks up pace and the province’s crippling injury list finally begins to show signs of easing.
Sean O’Brien, out since November with a leg injury, and Cian Hurley, unavailable since pre-season with a knee problem, are others back training with the team this week. Alex Nankivell isn’t far off either.
Tom Ahern is also back in the Limerick HPC this week having returned from Ireland camp as the province faces up to a Scarlets side that has shown clear signs of improvement having won more games this season already than the five banked last term.
Dwayne Peel’s side sit sixth in the URC table, just one place north and one point better off than their hosts this weekend. Munster will be looking to win back-to-back fixtures for only the second time in this campaign having seen off the Dragons in late January.
“We're all pushing to keep getting up the league and keep fighting in Europe,” said Wycherley. “So [Dragons was] kind of a good stepping stone and hopefully we can build on that and push forward in the next couple of weeks.”
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