Prop Sam McKendry was back in camp with his Kiwi team-mates today less than 12 hours after having surgery following multiple fractures to his jaw sustained in yesterday's Four Nations clash with Wales at Wembley Stadium.
The Penrith front rower was in the operating theatre for almost three hours at the Princess Grace Hospital last night.
Kiwis doctor Simon Mayhew said a clean break on the point of the jaw and multiple fractures on one side of it had left McKendry's bottom teeth about a centimetre out of alignment. The injury happened when he was tackled in the 54th minute soon after returning to the field for his second stint.
Mayhew said the operation was successful and McKendry was welcomed back by his team-mates at the Kiwis' London hotel late this morning. It's expected it will take up to 10 weeks for McKendry to fully recover from the injury.
He will travel to Leeds with the team on Tuesday but is due to return to Sydney later this week.
"There were a lot of concerned faces when I came back to the hotel and told the group what was happening,'' he said.
"They were disappointed that it was so serious but they were also relieved that he was able to be operated on that same night.''
Tournament rules don't allow teams to replace injured players, leaving the Kiwis with a complement of 22 players as they build towards their sudden-death match against England in Hull on Saturday night.
The Kangaroos are also a player down after brilliant fullback Billy Slater, named the international player of the year just last week, was ruled out of the tournament after breaking his collarbone against England yesterday.
While the Kiwis have lost McKendry they still have four frontline props in their squad and Adam Blair is another option; in fact, he used in the front row for much of Saturday's clash against Wales after the Kiwis lost both McKendry and Fuifui Moimoi (ankle). It's hoped Moimoi, now undergoing intensive treatment, will recover in time for the encounter with England.
After an early-morning recovery session, the Kiwis had time off in London today but will have a big training day tomorrow with weights in the morning and a field session at Wasps Rugby Club in the afternoon.
The touring party will travel to Leeds by train on Tuesday and have two field sessions there before moving to Hull on Friday for the final countdown to the match which will determine the team the Kangaroos will face in the November 19 final.
Two years ago the same two teams met in identical circumstances, England winning in Huddersfield to advance to the final.
