Wallabies prop Angus Bell is confident he will be ready to go for September's Rugby World Cup.
Bell gets out of the moon boot on Thursday after suffering a long-term foot injury during the Waratahs' season opener against the ACT Brumbies.
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It's the same injury that sidelined him for the majority of the Test season last year, however, the damaging prop has taken a different approach to the rehab in order to avoid a repeat
"It was a sesamoidectomy. I got a bone taken out instead of just re-attached this time," he explained. "Without that bone there, it can’t pop off.
"It’s a different surgery. In hindsight, I maybe could have got it the first time but that’s a bit radical. This time I’m just glad we did this sort of surgery and I can keep working on it to be as strong as it can be.
"I knew straight away. It’s a weird sensation when you feel a pop in your foot, you know straight away. That’s why I walked straight off."
Bell couldn't put an exact timeframe on his return, waiting to see how the foot re-scans and handles a return to scrummaging in July.
It comes after admitting he potentially rushed back from his injury in 2022, which saw the loosehead return for the Bledisloe Test in New Zealand before requiring surgery and missing the Spring Tour.
"Last time the progression probably wasn’t as long as it needed to be," he admits.
"That’s on me, because I pushed it. It was a different surgery, which involved some other things, so it’s all about the slow progression and building that strength in the foot."
However, he left little concern about where he plans to be come September 9 when the Wallabies open their World Cup campaign against Georgia.
"Definitely before the World Cup. I’ll be playing games before the World Cup," he said when asked about his return.
"It all depends what Eddie sees as the best opportunity for me to prove that I should be on that plane. Whether that’s club rugby for Sydney Uni or the warm-up game against France or for Australia A, I’m not sure what he thinks or what the medical staff are thinking.
"It just depends on where he thinks I should be playing to prove myself and hopefully give me the best opportunity.
"Not too sure (about TRC) at the moment. It’s all about how I re-scan. You go through a three-month period where you get it as strong as you can and they do all sorts of things to make sure it’s under the right training and they put you under an MRI to make sure it’s all built-up. I’ll know whether I will be there further down the line."
