ROCKED by a badly broken leg, a torn ACL and then a bout of glandular fever, Bath flanker Chris Cloete's pro R rugby career was nearly over before it had properly began until he found salvation in the unlikeliest of places - Sri Lanka.
Cloete's love of the game was severely tested by the multiple setbacks and the former SA Schoolboys player was thinking of quitting before a well-paid spell playing for Kandy in front of big crowds helped to get him back on track. Since then, he has played in three of the top leagues in the world-Super Rugby, the United Rugby Championship and the Gallagher Premiership.
"I played three years for the Sharks and I broke my tibia and my fibia when I was 19, and I was out for 13 months. I was playing really good rugby when it happened. I'd trained with the Blitzbok Sevens a couple of weeks prior to that, for two months in Cape Town. It was a Commonwealth Games year and I was trying to work my way into the squad but then I had my injury, it's the worst injury that I've had.
"In my second year, I tore my ACL, and then I went to Western Province for a year and I got glandular fever so I only played a few games and that was me done. I didn't have a contract there or anywhere else. My Craven Week coach asked if I would like to play University rugby but in my mind, I was done with rugby.”
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