Rugby: Weber gutted with sideline stint

LENGTHY BREAK: Hawke's Bay Magpies halfback Brad Weber has fractured his thigh bone and may miss the Lions games. PHOTO/FILE

Hawke's Bay Magpies rugby halfback Brad Weber did his maths and he was gutted.
As Weber, 26, sat on the sideline in a wheelchair after fracturing his femur (thigh bone) three minutes into the Chiefs 12-7 win in the final of the Brisbane Global Tens on Sunday night he worked out time could be against him in his quest to make the Chiefs and Maori All Blacks teams to play the Lions in June. He is eager to emulate the feat of his father and former Magpies halfback and manager Neil Weber who played and scored a try for the Magpies in their 29-17 win against the Lions in 1993.
The Chiefs player injury update last night stated the estimated recovery for Weber will be a minimum of six months. However players have been known to recover from similar injuries in four months.
"Knowing Brad he will be doing everything he can to try and make those Lions games. The fact he was so fit before the injury and the fact it is early February are points in his favour," Weber snr said.
His son, who will return home from Brisbane next week, had surgery on Sunday night and a rod was inserted. If everything goes to plan it will be taken out in three months.
Weber snr said it was a big three days for the one-test All Black as he had scored a try for the Chiefs in their pre-season match against the Bulls on Thursday night before playing in the Tens.
"It will be a fantastic thrill to see him run out against the Lions in June because it is a goal he set at the start of the season. If it is not to be it's not to be ... these opportunities only come around every 12 years and he won't be playing at this level the next time the Lions come to New Zealand.
"He certainly wasn't happy sitting in that wheelchair on Sunday night when he could have been in the celebration team photo. Once he gets home we know he will get plenty of rehab and work hard on his recovery," Weber snr added.
The Magpies first-string No 9 last year, Weber, is expected to be fully recovered before the Bay's Mitre 10 Cup campaign begins in August. Chiefs and Taranaki prop Mitchell Graham is expected to be sidelined for six months with a fractured tibia and fibula collected at the weekend and Chiefs and Taranaki lock will be out of action for two to three months with ankle ligament damage also collected in Brisbane.