Sonny Bill Williams has stressed patience as the key to close friend Quade Cooper making a swift and complete recovery from his ruptured Achilles tendon.
The Wallabies five-eighth suffered the devastating injury against Argentina in August, throwing a massive wrench into Dave Rennie’s Rugby World Cup plans.
Cooper had, against the odds, re-established himself as Australia’s premier playmaker and without him Noah Lolesio, James O’Connor and Reece Hodge have job shared with varying degrees of success.
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Bernard Foley is the latest No.10 to get his chance when he meets the All Blacks in Melbourne on Thursday but Cooper very much plans on re-entering calculations next year for another tilt at the World Cup in France.
Williams was an obvious confidant for Cooper, having torn his own Achilles while playing sevens for New Zealand at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
He was back playing Super Rugby eight months later and for the All Blacks in just 10.
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“Patience. Let nature take its course,” Williams told Wide World of Sports when asked what he had been preaching to Cooper.
“I played at eight months, almost got back at five or six but I pushed it too much and got a stress fracture. That was from just going a bit too hard.
“My main advice to him was let nature take its course, rest now because in a couple of months time you’ll be working hard.
“Injuries, like everything else in life, have their time so just relax, put the feet up. As much as it sucks, being a professional sportsman, just try and chill a little bit.
“He knows what to do.”
Achilles ruptures have traditionally been one of the most dreaded injuries for athletes.
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At 34-years-old, Cooper faces a long road to recovery.
But as modern medicine and rehabilitation practices continue to evolve and improve, the return to play times are decreasing.
In the NFL, Los Angeles Rams running back Cam Akers incredibly took just six months to return to competition after tearing his tendon.
And James Robinson of the Jacksonville Jaguars was a standout on Monday in his return only eight months after the tear.
“That’s the beauty of having the right type of people and the right type of training,” Williams said.
“Because yeah, you can get back on the field but it’s what you’re doing training-wise that has a big part to play. He (Cooper) values the right type of stuff.
“Strength and conditioning, being strong in the gym, he understands that that’s his game. That’s a big part of coming back from an Achilles.”
Cooper has been taking on board the Williams advice – as difficult as that might be.
“That first two weeks was just all about rest and staying still which was difficult,” Cooper told Wide World of Sports.
“I was getting a little bit frustrated but it’s part of the process. You just want to get into the physio and the gym and start moving and getting it right.
“But it’s about understanding that that part is just as important as getting in the gym, working on the Achilles and starting walking and running.
“Each pillar is there for a reason.”
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