KEY POINTS:
Sosene Anesi isn't quite sure whether or not to feel lucky.
On the one hand, the 26-year-old Waikato and Chiefs winger has been forced to sit out five months of rugby due to a freakish injury; on the other hand, he can still walk. Better than that, he
has been cleared to play again and will do so on Friday night for the first time since breaking his neck in February.
"I had a good start to the Super 14 so I was unlucky that I injured myself," Anesi said ahead of the pre-season Air New Zealand Cup match against Taranaki. "But I was lucky in that it could have been worse. I'm lucky to be back playing."
The winger suffered a fracture to his C4 vertebrae in the early stages of the Chiefs' defeat by the Hurricanes in round two of the Super 14. Initially, Anesi had no idea of the severity of his injury, playing the full 80 minutes.
"I didn't even know it was my neck, I thought it was just my back. My back was tight and sore. I thought it was something that would go away. During the game, I was trying to crack my back in on the field. At halftime, I felt it when I stopped moving around but I went back on.
"The next day it got worse and I went for scan that showed I had broken my neck."
His doctors assure him his neck is 100 per cent healed - but the mental scars still linger.
"It's a bit stiff now and then, especially when I wake up in the morning. But it's all in my head. I feel all right. I just need to get out there and put in a performance.
"I'm sure I'm going to be a little bit nervous. I just want to get that first ball and get into contact and see what happens. Hopefully, I'll get over it. I'm glad I'm back."
Rated as one of the quickest players in the country, the trademark speed that helped New Zealand win Commonwealth Games Sevens gold last year has yet to return.
"I'll just keep working on it and, hopefully, it will come back," Anesi said.
Having played one test for the All Blacks against Fiji as a substitute in 2005 - and not having had a look in since - Apia-born Anesi admits he is "a little bit disappointed" not to be eligible to play for his native Samoa at the World Cup.
"But New Zealand is my home country now. I'm just trying to make sure I have a good Air New Zealand Cup and we'll see how it goes from there."
With Sitiveni Sivivatu, Mils Muliaina and Byron Kelleher all France-bound, Anesi should provide a veteran presence in a largely inexperienced Waikato backline.