Jack van Poortvliet: Leicester Tigers and England scrum-half more 'hungry' after lay-off

Leicester Tigers and England scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet says he has returned from his eight-month injury lay-off more "grateful and hungry".

An ankle injury suffered against Wales last summer cost the 22-year-old a place in England's World Cup squad.

He recovered from that injury in four months, but a run of hamstring problems doubled his time on the sidelines.

"It has definitely tested me, this injury," he told BBC Radio Leicester. "I learned a lot about myself."

Norwich-born Van Poortvliet, who has come through the Tigers academy and quickly established himself as one of the nation's brightest talents, came off the bench for Leicester against Gloucester last week to the rapturous applause from many at Mattioli Woods Welford Road.

While Tigers suffered a costly late defeat, the return of the playmaker was a highlight.

"I've never been out for that long in my career, so to come back on to the field was unbelievable," he said. "To hear the ovation and crowd get behind you was amazing."

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When Van Poortvliet first went down injured in the pre-World Cup warm-up match he said he only thought "positively", as he refused to immediately concede his hopes of playing at last year's tournament in France had been dashed.

That all changed a day later, when England's physiotherapist outlined the full extent of the injury.

"I definitely won't forget that moment," he said. "But I can't remember what he said after 'you are out for four months and you won't be going to the World Cup'. After hearing that I didn't listen to anything more he said. I just broke down in tears."

Those emotions remained raw as he left his World Cup-bound team-mates at their Pennyhill Park training base.

"I remember my mum came to pick me up and I went around to see the boys, and Freddie [Steward] and Chez [Ollie Chessum] were at the exit with my mum.

"We all ended up crying, it was horrible."

'Toughest moments of career'

Van Poortvliet says he had "mixed feelings" when watching England at the World Cup, but "enjoyed" seeing them go on to finish with a bronze medal.

All the while, he was working on his rehabilitation.

And when it all looked to be on track, and he was 10 days from a potential return after four months out, he was hit by the first of two hamstring problems.

Both were muscle tears, the second of which was worse and took its greatest toll on Van Poortvliet's morale.

"That was the lowest I'd been in the rehab - getting to a week before your comeback only to be told you will be out for another eight weeks was pretty demoralising," he said.

"While the World Cup was going on, and my second hamstring injury, were without a doubt the two toughest moments of my career."

But he insists the time and career milestones that the injury cost him have only made him "more resilient".

"It has just helped me become a lot more grateful to be back and a lot more hungry, now that I'm working even harder to get back to performing well," he said.