Rugby’s a nasty game, or so my mother keeps telling me. We’ve all seen, or heard of players suffering horrific and sometimes career ending injuries. More often than not the effect of merely a freak accident rather than malicious intent, the curse struck Boroughmuir, and more specifically South African centre Gareth Ihmig, during a 2^nd XV game against Stewart’s Melville in October.

In an attempt to burst through a gap for a try, Gareth suffered an open fracture of his tibia and dislocation of his ankle, and such was the time needed to treat the damage on-field, that the game was abandoned with ’Muir leading 22-0. “I was about to dive for the line because I could feel someone at my back, and I didn’t really know what had happened at the time but I just felt excruciating pain through my ankle. I lifted my leg up and my foot was basically hanging next to it. I thought I had just dislocated it at first, but once they got the sock off, it became obvious that it was an open fracture.”

Surprisingly, though perhaps only to those of us who haven’t suffered horrific leg breaks, the intolerable pain didn’t last for too long, “The first minute was really bad, but then I think your body just produces so much adrenaline, because I really couldn’t feel anything. After a little while I began getting a bit colder and the pain started getting a bit worse, but by the time I was in the ambulance I was on morphine so it wasn’t too bad.”

Taken to the Royal Infirmary and operated on that evening for “bone reconstruction”, Gareth spent five days in hospital in all, with a further operation to repair the damage done to the ligaments around the joint. Since returning home, the twenty-two year old has found staving off boredom to be one of his main difficulties. “It’s been boring, obviously I’ve not been able to work, but the club’s been really good to me and my brother’s helping out financially and all the rest, but it’s definitely been boring. Thankfully everyone’s been great, bringing round weights so I can do upper body work, books and magazines to try and keep me entertained, it’s made it that bit easier.”

With the injury having been so serious, a long rehabilitation lies ahead, “If everything goes smoothly then I go in for another check-up after six weeks where they’ll do x-rays and check that everything’s healing. After, I think, eight to twelve weeks, they’ll take the screws out and then after about four months I should hopefully be walking unassisted again, and thinking positively, I could be running in six or seven months.”

Whilst the thought may have crossed the minds of some that he may not take to the rugby field again, Gareth has had no such doubts. “I definitely want to play again. I’ve played all my life, I’m not nervous about coming back. It was a freak accident and I don’t feel at all nervous about playing or watching rugby again, so I’ll hit the gym hard and try to get in the first team next season.”

Born and raised in Cape Town, where he played his youth rugby, Gareth initially came to Scotland in November 2003 to play for Strathendrick. “When I first came across, it was just going to be for six months during the off-season in South Africa, but two years later I’m still here. Having played for Strathendrick for eighteen months though, I wanted to move up to a higher level, and with the rugby scene in Edinburgh it seemed the perfect place to come.”

Along with his brother, Herman, who had joined him north of the border having spent time in London, Gareth intended to look at Boroughmuir, Heriot’s and Watsonians before deciding where their playing future lay, but after their visit to Meggetland, they never left. “One of my friends knew Ben Fisher, and we came down to watch Boroughmuir play Currie in the opening game of the season. We saw the stand and clubhouse under construction, and everyone was really welcoming so we came for one training session and decided we’d seen enough that we were just going to stay here.”

With the number of southern hemisphere players in the Scottish game seemingly ever on the rise, a growing number are taking advantage of residency qualifications to make the move permanent. “I’ve been here two years now, so I have sort of settled here, but I honestly don’t know how long I’ll stay. I suppose, visa permitting, and I’ve got quite strong criteria, I’ll stay a good while and make the best of it.”

It was the cruellest of blows, perhaps, that the injury came just as he had settled and adjusted to the higher level of competition and had won a regular place in the starting line-up for the 2^nd XV. “Obviously it took time to settle in, to start playing good rugby because it’s a step up from Strathendrick, it took a while to get back to form. It just felt like I was really starting to get somewhere with my form and fitness and then it happened.”

There isn’t anyone at the club who doesn’t feel for Gareth, hence the support shown to him in the aftermath of the incident. “The whole club has been really good to me. Andy Knight’s been fantastic, giving me lifts to hospital and back for my check-ups and everything. Justin Tito’s brought round weights and made phone calls, just as a whole the club’s been really supportive.”

Gareth’s philosophical stance on the matter is pleasant to see, when all said and done rugby is a ferociously physical sport at times and it is all we can do to support players when times like these rear their heads. Perhaps it was best summed up by team mate Robbie McKenzie, who wrote on the get well card passed around the club, “you should have passed”. Gareth’s answer? “No. I saw the gap, I was straight through. I don’t actually know how I didn’t get over from five metres. If it came round again, I’d still go for the gap.”

Now that’s he’s at least somewhat mobile, Gareth is anxious to find work. “The majority of what I’ve done is in sales, but I’m studying marketing at the moment, so that’s my background. I’m looking for some type of desk job, but I’m not picky. Obviously it needs to be something where transport isn’t a problem because Herman’s working through in Livingston and I can’t drive, so I need to be able to get there, but further than that, I’m not fussy.”

If anyone knows of any suitable work please get in touch via the website and we’ll pass on the details to Gareth.

Simon & Mark Furnivall