ɐ bɹˈoʊkən lˈɛɡ, səstˈeɪnd dˈʊɹɹɪŋ ɐn ˈɪŋɡlənd tɹˈeɪnɪŋ sˈɛʃən æt twˈɪkənˌæm ɪn noʊvˈɛmbɚ nˈaɪntiːnhˈʌndɹɪd sˈɛvənti tˈuː, sˈɔː hˌɪm mˈɪs ðɪ ˈɔːɾʌm ˌɪntɚnˈæʃənəl ɐɡˈɛnst ðɪ ˈɔːl blˈæks ænd ðə fˈaɪv nˈeɪʃənz mˈætʃᵻz ɪnðɪ ˈɜːli pˈɑːɹt ʌv nˈaɪntiːnhˈʌndɹɪd sˈɛvənti θɹˈiː bˌʌt hiː fˈɔːt hɪz wˈeɪ bˈæk tə fˈɪtnəs ænd ɹᵻkˈʌvɚd wˈɛl ɪnˈʌf təbi ɪŋklˈuːdᵻd ɪnðɪ ˈɪŋɡlənd skwˈɑːd tə tˈʊɹ fˈiːdʒi ænd nˈuː zˈiːlənd lˈeɪɾɚ ðæt jˈɪɹ.
A broken leg, sustained during an England training session at Twickenham in November 1972, saw him miss the autumn international against the All Blacks and the Five Nations matches in the early part of 1973 but he fought his way back to fitness and recovered well enough to be included in the England squad to tour Fiji and New Zealand later that year.