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Will Harrison’s golden point heroics on Friday night were enough to quicken the pulse and bring a smile to the face of even the most jaded rugby couch potato.
But two nerveless kicks to first level with, and then beat, the defending champion Crusaders in Sydney, carried extra meaning for proud Randwick men Morgan Turinui and Stephen Hoiles.
The ex-Wallabies turned Stan Sport pundits have been with the 24-year-old Waratahs pivot for both the highs and the lows as Harrison’s last two Super Rugby Pacific seasons were injury write offs.
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“There were lots of times where you didn’t think he was going to play rugby again, let alone get back to that level,” Turinui said on Stan Sport’s Between Two Posts.
“When he first did his knee injury, I was overseas and I rang Morgs just to see how bad it was,” Randwick coach Hoiles added.
“And it was like ‘mate, there’s talk he might not play again.’ Did his patella, his MCL, pretty much everything. And in coming back from his ACL in that same injury, they were waiting for the other parts of his knee to heal before they operated on his ACL. And it was one of those rare cases where the ACL starts to repair itself.
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“So I said ‘mate, this is kind of looking alright, if you flip the coin, you’ve got to get surgery this year and you’re out anyway.’
“Or you can rehab and try and play this year and if you do it again, you’re going to have to get surgery anyway. His first game back at Randwick he did his ACL in non contact. It was torture.”
Waratahs physiotherapist Alan Robinson estimated Harrison slogged his way through 603 physio and 124 running sessions during his 707 days of rehab before returning against the Rebels earlier this month.
NEW PODCAST! Sean Maloney, Morgan Turinui and Stephen Hoiles revel in star turns from Aussies Will Harrison and Darby Lancaster
Visitors to Daceyville training sessions are used to the sight of Harrison continuing to bang over shots at goal while other players and staff are turning the ignition in the Waratahs car park.
“He’s a great kid and there’s lots of other stories like that – just that we have a really close connection to the people around it,” Turinui, who was in commentary on the night, said.
“We’ve seen first hand what goes on behind to get to that moment on the weekend. And to see him come through – pretty happy.”
Harrison has come off the bench behind Tane Edmed so far in his comeback but will press for a start when the Waratahs return from their bye against the Chiefs in Sydney on April 26.
The sparky left footer had been picked in Wallabies training squads under previous coach Dave Rennie but is yet to make his Test debut.
“He’s on peanuts at the club (Waratahs),” Hoiles revealed.
“He’s had to go back to the very start from a contractual point of view and he’s hanging on just to get through this year. So it’s a really important year for the future of his career.”
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