Reds lock Van Humphries has declared he'll be "100 per cent" ready to take on the Hurricanes in Wellington on Friday after recovering from an ankle injury that forced him to miss two games.
Humphries sustained the injury in the final lineout of the Reds’ 19-12 victory over the Bulls a fortnight ago and missed the subsequent games against the Stormers and Brumbies.
His experience and leadership around the paddock were sorely missed in the Brumbies match, where the Reds also lost starting locks Rob Simmons (fractured cheekbone) and Adam Byrnes (knee ligament) in the opening quarter of the match.
With Simmons and Byrnes joining fellow lock and captain James Horwill on the sideline, Humphries' return couldn't have been better timed.
"It’s coming along well. We’ve had a checklist to tick off over the last couple of days and I’ve passed everything so far," Humphries said.
"I’ll be 100 percent come Friday."
Humphries could be packing down alongside late season recruit and former Wallaby Radike Samo if Head Coach Ewen McKenzie elects to include him in the squad to fly out for Wellington tomorrow morning.
"He (Radike) has been training for the past two or three weeks. From what we have done so far, and the way we trained this morning, he was very good," Humphries said.
"He’s done a lot and he’s a good guy to actually come into the squad at the moment."
Humphries insisted the team had moved on from the disappointment of their 12th straight loss to the Brumbies and were eager to take the field against the Hurricanes.
"It’s sort of a chink to our pride, so the boys are really looking to make up for it," Humphries said of the 32-12 loss in Canberra.
"(But) we’ve done our analysis…and we’ve generally done well on the short turnaround all year. This should be no different."
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