Mitchell relieved to be back for Wallabies

If there is one player in this Rugby World Cup who is counting his lucky stars it is Drew Mitchell.

In April, even the Australia wing wrote off his chances of playing in New Zealand after badly dislocating and breaking his right ankle while playing for New South Wales against Queensland Reds in round 10 of Super Rugby,

After falling awkwardly chasing a kick, his ankle was left at right angles and he had to be sedated while medical staff put it back into place.

The pain of the horrific injury was immediately coupled with the gloomy prospect of missing rugby's showpiece tournament.

"Yes, a number of times," Mitchell reflected when asked whether he thought his season was finished.

"The first thing, probably five seconds after it happened, looking at it (the ankle) and the position it was in, it was funny how quickly my thoughts went to the World Cup.

Magnitude

"It was a pretty long ride and one I had not travelled. I have not really had a major injury before, certainly not one of this magnitude in the year that it is. It is pretty satisfying to be in the position I am now in."

When specialists told him there was still a chance of him making the Rugby World Cup, it spurred his recovery.

His effort and belief has paid off handsomely, with Australia's leading try scorer at RWC 2007 selected on the bench for the Wallabies' second match against Ireland at Eden Park on Saturday.

The 27-year-old Mitchell is thrilled to be back in contention for his 57th cap, saying: "For me, it was really important that I hung on to that hope. To get through those long, tedious days, I really had to hang on to the fact that there was still a chance.

"That was big thing for me, using that as sort of a carrot to get back and through all the rehab."