England centre Ben Te’o has admitted he wasn’t sure if he would return to rugby following his latest battle with injury.
The 31-year-old missed England’s summer tour of South Africa due to a thigh injury and spent further time on the sidelines last season after undergoing ankle surgery.
The Worcester star is set to return to action this campaign, but told the BBC that the thought of not recovering from his latest setback crossed his mind.
“You have a couple of injuries back-to-back and you start to wonder, ‘Is this worth it?'” Te’o said. ‘I’ve come back from some tough injuries, and once you’re back it’s brilliant. But the time off is tough.
“When I was getting ready for surgery for my quad, I was laying in the bed with the gown on about to go under again and I was thinking, ‘I can’t believe I am going under again for another op’.
“But sometimes that’s the way it goes with injuries. You can have a couple of good years, and then sometimes it can go back to back to back, and you just can’t get away from it.”
Te’o’s Worcester side get their Premiership season underway against Wasps on Sept. 1, but the former British and Irish Lion said he doesn’t expect to be fit every week.
“I would love to get out here and play week in, week out. But that’s just not real anymore, not in this day and age.
“I would love to get back fit and play every game for Worcester this season. Is that realistic? I don’t know. Maybe, we will see.”