All Blacks and Canterbury Crusaders skipper Richie McCaw on Tuesday said he does not expect to recover from his foot surgery until April, ruling him out of the first five rounds of the Super 15 season.
McCaw, 31, played for much of last year with a nagging foot injury caused by a screw inserted during an earlier operation.
After playing through the pain during New Zealand's successful Rugby World Cup campaign, the openside flanker said he wanted to ensure he was 100 percent fit before playing this year.
McCaw, who turned down a knighthood after the World Cup win, said he had resumed running after undergoing an operation to remove the screw during the off-season.
"By March, I should be pretty close to knowing when I'll be back, but I'd say some time in April. But I don't want to put too tight a time frame on it," he told Fairfax Media.
The Crusaders will also be without the services of star fly-half Dan Carter during the opening Super 15 rounds after he suffered a groin injury during the World Cup.
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