Dan Ward-Smith is optimistic about his chances of featuring at this years World Cup.
Bristol No.8 confident of England chances
England's Dan Ward-Smith remains optimistic about his chances of featuring at this year's World Cup, despite being sidelined with a serious knee injury.
The Bristol No.8 was one of the star performers for the west country outfit before suffering the setback in January.
Ward-Smith underwent surgery in May and has been progressing extremely well, with the uncapped forward recently taking limited part at the Algarve training camp.
Ward-Smith is now looking to really step up his training when he joins up with the rest of the England squad at their Bath University training base.
Ward-Smith said: "I am making really good progress, and I am doing everything in my power to get fit as soon as possible.
Schedule
"It is one of those injuries where there isn't a mapped-out recovery protocol when you move from A to B to C.
"It is hard to say whether I am ahead of schedule or behind schedule because it is quite a rare injury and not many people have had experience of rehabilitating it.
"There is not a lot of time before the World Cup, but I can sprint and I can jump and I am doing a lot of training such as weightlifting to try to get the strength back into my leg.
"There is still a lot of work to do, but I am in the best possible hands and if it is an achievable goal, I am sure I will achieve it."
Ward-Smith was keen to thank the efforts of everyone involved in his rehabilitation, he said: "The whole way through it has been a combination between the Bristol medical staff, Bill Knowles in America and the Rugby Football Union medical staff. It is a real team effort."
England coach Brian Ashton must name his final 30-man squad by August 14, giving Ward-Smith little over a month to prove he can handle a two-month campaign.
