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Dan Ward-Smith heads West .. In a venture jointly funded by Bristol Rugby and the Rugby Football Union, Dan will spend four weeks in the United States with renowned knee specialist Bill Knowles of iSPORT at the Vermont Orthopaedic Clinic in Killington Mountain Ski Resort. Since rupturing his patella tendon and dislocating his knee cap against Northampton Saints in January, Ward-Smith's rehabilitation has been managed by Bristol Rugby physios Paul Tompkins and Simon Edwards, who have been liaising closely with England Team doctor Simon Kemp.
Both Bristol Rugby and the RFU wish to get Dan 100% healthy and back in action as quickly as possible but in a controlled and managed fashion. In order to achieve this, they have worked together in drawing up the programme for Dan, consulting with Knowles and surgeon Jonathan Eldridge. Knowles has worked with England fly-half Charlie Hodgson and Scotland captain Jason White this season as well as sportsmen and women from American Football, Australian Rules and Premiership soccer in the past. He has also treated former England scrum-half Austin Healey and helped Saracens and England flanker Richard Hill get back to fitness after his knee collapsed during the 2005 Lions tour. |
"I'm really excited about the prospect of working with one of the world's foremost knee experts who will help me to get closer to my ultimate goal of playing rugby again. I'm incredibly grateful to both Bristol Rugby and the RFU for making this possible and hope to be able to repay them by making a full and speedy recovery." Dan Ward-Smith - Bristol Rugby No8 "Wardy has made great progress so far but Bill Knowles' reputation speaks for itself. This four-week period will be really important for Dan. He'll be in the best possible hands with Bill and I'm sure that Dan would agree that it'll be good to freshen things up with a change of scenery and a different group of people to work with for a while." "Rugby is a team game and it's been a real team effort getting DWS this far. Through working together, we'll optimise his chances of making a full recovery as quickly as possible." Paul Tompkins - Bristol Rugby Physio "Bill is arguably the leading knee rehabilitation specialist. He has vast experience of dealing with elite athletes, particularly Olympic skiers, following major knee ligament and tendon reconstructions. I have no doubt that he will make very significant rehabilitation gains over the period. "He will be doing lower limb rehabilitation but will also be working towards joint club and country cardiovascular and upper-body fitness goals as well." Simon Kemp - RFU Head of Sports Medicine FOR THE LATEST NEWS VISIT |
![Paul Tompkins [center] - photo (c) Gary Bray / UNiCOM](Graphics/BSn_DWS_107.jpg)
