Crusaders tight-head prop Oli Jager is relishing being "back in the colours" after a lengthy stint on the sideline.
The Irish-born prop suffered a neck injury at the beginning of 2022 which progressively got worse throughout the season; initially he tried injections, along with medical supervision but late last year an MRI showed he'd need it operated on.
"The surgeon told me I'm no good to play and needed it fixed. That's the nature of the sport, especially as a front rower - your neck takes most of the load in the scrum so you've got to make sure it's safe," Jager said.
Last week, he was finally deemed fit to play against the Chiefs five months post surgery and while his team came up short 34-24, the 27-year-old said he was just happy to touch the pitch.
"It was a fast-paced game, my lungs were hurting but it was good to have the rust out of the system."
Despite the neck injury, not once did Jager consider that it could be the end of a career that brought him to New Zealand and earn his first full-time contract with the Crusaders back in 2017.
"I was always confident and so were the medical staff, my surgeon, everyone believed it'd be fine.
"It ended up going a lot quicker than it was meant to be. I've come back 4-5 weeks earlier than the original prognosis which is really good."
While the rehabilitation journey was tough going, he said being able to stay involved helped him process it. That included helping out not only the Crusaders with their on-field trainings but working alongside Super Rugby Aupiki team Matatū.
"I really enjoy coaching and being a front-rower, my bread and butter is the scrum," he said.
"So, I reached out to Dan Cron, Matatū's scrum coach, and he said they'd love to have me over to help out."
Jager helped with a couple of scrum sessions, and also did some individual work with some of the props, though he conceded nothing beats playing and he's excited to be back in time to hopefully help his side to a seventh straight Super Rugby title.
He also believes the Crusaders will be 'better off' for their loss against the Chiefs in Hamilton.
"It exposes your weaknesses and gives a chance to fix them up and put elbow grease into what we need to.
"One week at a time, if we grind out the wins, we'll be fine."
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