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There was no shortage of curious glances in Scott Waldrom's direction last week when the Hurricanes were told to line up in order of games played.
Waldrom, the 28-year-old veteran of the domestic rugby scene and member of the team's leadership group, was standing near the back end
of the line.
"Everyone was looking at me puzzled because I was down with all the new kids," he recalls.
He was there because he has just 12 Super Rugby caps to his name in a career that began with the Crusaders five full seasons ago.
It's not a figure that bothers the livewire openside. He knows it could have been much lower.
When he starts against the Waratahs tonight, Waldrom will be out to make the Hurricanes No 7 jersey his own. But his career almost never was.
What first appeared to be a routine break in his foot one match into the 2005 Super Rugby season eventually mushroomed into a career-threatening injury.
After several months in a cast following the initial break, Waldrom attempted to retake the field. But the foot hurt worse than ever and he went back to hospital for a scan.
"It showed the bone that had broken in half had now broken into about eight pieces," he said.
"I had an operation to try to put it back together. They put in about six screws and did a hip graft. From there I was in a cast for about six months. I had scans every couple of months and it still wasn't healing, so they injected some other stuff and ended up putting in a couple more screws. It took a long time to settle down and come together."
About two years, in fact, ruling Waldrom out of 2006 and 2007 Super Rugby contention.
"After about a year of being in a cast and specialists saying 'we don't know if you ever will be back playing', there was certainly a time when I'd given up on the thought of going back to rugby," he said.
But the foot finally healed and a transfer from Wellington to Taranaki for the 2007 national championship breathed new life into his stalled career. Literally and figuratively, the switch gave him the chance to "get back on my feet".
Since then he has made every post a winner. In 2007 he was named Taranaki's player of the year and last year, after a strong season with the Hurricanes and another stand-out campaign with Taranaki, he received the ultimate reward - a cherished place on an All Blacks tour and the chance to don the black jersey against Munster.
"After I came back from my injury, even when people were saying I was playing well, I never thought that was really a possibility. I had given up on that dream. I was pretty much in shock when I heard my name on the radio. So to wear that jersey just made me a lot more determined to get back in it."
Getting back in black may be Waldrom's new goal but he is also keen to help the Hurricanes shake off their nearly men tag.
Their prospects of making a strong start against last year's beaten finalists had taken a hit with the withdrawal of Piri Weepu - replaced at first five-eighths by debutant Daniel Kirkpatrick - but Waldrom is still confident the Hurricanes can go the extra couple of steps after reaching three of last four semifinals but failing to capture a title.
"We have kind of got a stigma about us that you can almost guarantee we'll make the semis but won't win it. Maybe in previous years we have been happy just to get there. This year there is a different feel. Just making the semis or making the final is not good enough, we want to win it."
Without injured All Blacks Andrew Hore and Conrad Smith, both likely to return next week, the Hurricanes will have their work cut out against a Waratahs side bristling with Wallabies.
There is a youthful look to the Hurricanes, with hooker Dane Coles joining Kirkpatrick in the starting line-up, while Ged Robinson, Karl Lowe and Api Naikatini could also get their first taste at this level off the bench.
The Waratahs, who won last season's corresponding clash 20-3 in Sydney as the Hurricanes failed to come to terms with the ELVs, have named former league star Timana Tahu at second five-eighths. Powerhouse Wallaby Wycliff Palu is on the bench, with Ben Mowen named to start at blindside alongside openside Phil Waugh and no 8 Scott Fava.
Westpac Stadium, Wellington, 7.35 tonight
HURRICANES
Cory Jane
Zac Guildford
Tamati Ellison
Ma'a Nonu
Hosea Gear
Dan Kirkpatrick
Alby Mathewson
Rodney So'oialo (c)
Scott Waldrom
Faifili Levave
Jason Eaton
Bryn Evans
Neemia Tialata
Dane Coles
John Schwalger
Reserves: Ged Robinson, Jacob Ellison, Jeremy Thrush/Api Naikatini, Karl Lowe, Willie Ripia , Jason Kawau, David Smith
WARATAHS
S. Norton-Knight
Lachie Turner
Rob Horne
Timana Tahu
Lote Tuqiri
Kurtley Beale
Luke Burgess
Scott Fava
Phil Waugh
Ben Mowen
Will Caldwell
Dean Mumm
Al Baxter
Tatafu Polota-Nau
Benn Robinson
Reserves: Adam Freier , Jeremy Tilse, Chris Thomson, Wycliff Palu, Brett Sheehan, Daniel Halangahu, Tom Carter
