Somerville's back: Better....stronger...faster...

After struggling through nearly a year of rehab for an achilles injury, All Black prop Greg Somerville was itching to play rugby again, and maybe, just maybe, work his way back into the black jersey. An accidental poke to the eye put paid to that, tearing his retina.

Yet when the selectors named their squad to take to the World Cup, a place was left blank for Somerville. He was given the chance he needed to prove his fitness, but just when things were going well, the eye injury brought the whole thing to a halt.

In a desperate attempt to prove he was fully fit, he began talks with leading surgeons from Europe, as well as robotic experts from Japan. Flying to Germany for the procedure, Somerville's left eye was removed and replaced with a bionic optical unit. It was only the third time the operation had been attempted, and in an effort to reduce recovery time the procedure was conducted without anesthetic.

Flying home the next day, Somerville, still bandaged, spoke of the risks he was taking.
"I spose it could have gone worse. Seems ok now, a little bit sore. No major."

When the bandages were removed 3 days later, doctors were amazed.
"He had perfect vision immediately. Other than some swelling around where the implant is fused to the skull, the operation is a complete success" said Doctor Weiner Schnitzelson, the German surgeon who performed the operation.

IRB rules meant that some of the advances features of the implant had to be removed, such as the Infra-Red and X-Ray options, as well as the laser cutting beam.

Regardless, Somerville was rewarded with confirmed inclusion in the squad that will travel to France. Whilst he says that some of his teammates have been giving him some stick over the eye, it doesn't worry him.
"I'm just happy to be playing again, even if I do make babies cry...more."