{"id":809124,"date":"2026-10-21T00:10:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-21T00:10:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/809124\/"},"modified":"2026-10-21T00:10:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T00:10:16","slug":"it-was-quite-a-scary-experience-seeing-my-leg-facing-90-degrees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/809124\/","title":{"rendered":"‘It was quite a scary experience seeing my leg facing 90 degrees’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As he lay on the Toulouse<\/a> turf looking down at his horrifically damaged ankle, Le Roux Malan feared his rugby career was over.<\/p>\n

But three years on, that career is positively thriving as he prepares for a reunion with his former team.<\/p>\n

The 27-year-old centre is now plying his trade in Wales<\/a> with Cardiff Rugby<\/a> having made the move from the Hollywoodbets Sharks<\/a> over the summer.<\/p>\n

As fate would have it, the BKT URC fixture schedule has thrown up an early meeting with the Sharks who are the visitors to the Arms Park this Friday.<\/p>\n

It will be a big night for Malan who has shown such resilience and determination to fight back from the gruesome injury he suffered while playing for Namibia<\/a> at the World Cup in France<\/a> in September 2023.<\/p>\n

During a group match against New Zealand<\/a> at Stadium de Toulouse, he sustained a catastrophic leg injury, dislocating his ankle, fracturing his fibula and tearing his semitendinosus.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was caught in a real freaky position,\u201d he recalls.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was quite a scary experience seeing my leg facing 90 degrees.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first thing that came to my mind was that my career was over. The pain was unbearable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Malan underwent surgery on the day of the injury and while in hospital he received an All Blacks<\/a> jersey from the New Zealand team signed by all their players.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe support I got from everybody was awesome, the All Blacks, World Rugby, the medics,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

After initially flying back home to Namibia, he undertook most of his rehabilitation with his club side, the New England<\/a> Free Jacks in Boston, USA.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey took me straight into their care which shows how great a club it is. That was special,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first two months were really slow. It started with two times per week \u2013 mobility, taking care of the scar tissue. Then we ramped it up in the new year.<\/p>\n

\u201cInitially, it was the healing process and regaining strength. Then heavy lifting, lots of fitness. They listened to me and how I felt, which helped a lot because it didn\u2019t stretch my body. We were taking it step by step.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey took very good care of me. I owe the Free Jacks\u2019 medical staff so much.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Just seven months after sustaining his injury, Malan returned to action and it was to prove a dream comeback as he scored a try in the MLR Championship Final, just as he had the year before, as the Free Jacks retained the title.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt had been a rollercoaster,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, it was very emotional. The highs were extremely high and the lows were extremely low.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was probably the most challenging time in my life.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a weird process, one that entailed a ton of growth and experience. There was a bit of everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spells with Hawkes Bay<\/a> in New Zealand and the Sharks in South Africa \u2013 where he had begun his career \u2013 followed before he signed for Cardiff.<\/p>\n

Explaining his move to Wales, he said: \u201cI have always been someone who wanted to travel and rugby can take me all over.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been great. Cardiff is definitely one of the coolest places I have been to. There\u2019s a lot of history with the club as well. There have been some legends here and it\u2019s awesome to see what the 150th anniversary means to people.<\/p>\n

\u201cCorniel van Zyl being a South African coach was also a big appeal.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a chance to develop my game and learn from people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Born in the Namibian capital Windhoek, Malan moved to South Africa<\/a> with his family when he was two years old and went on to attend Paarl Boys\u2019 High School in the Western Cape.<\/p>\n

After playing Varsity Cup rugby for the University of Cape Town, he began his professional career with the Sharks in Durban before moving to the US in 2022, with his Test debut for Namibia coming later that year.<\/p>\n

Since joining Cardiff, Malan has made a really positive impression, starting all three BKT URC matches and showing his versatility by wearing both 13 and 12.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on his strengths, he says: \u201cI pride myself on my work rate and my effort. I am a team man.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I bring communication and physicality as well. I do pride myself on my ability in the contact area.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I think those are strong attributes I can bring to the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

The four-times capped centre continued: \u201cI have been around and played all over and been coached by a few different coaches from different nationalities.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I think I bring not just the South African edge but maybe rugby as a whole.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been really interesting to learn all the different methodologies. It\u2019s so contrasting.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn South Africa, it\u2019s forward dominance and physicality. In New Zealand, they keep the ball in play for 16 plus phases at least four times in a game.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen in America, I was surrounded by a bunch of different nationalities, your islanders, your Europeans, South Africans, Aussies, British. That\u2019s definitely played a role in where I am today as a rugby player.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not just focused on a certain type of player. It\u2019s definitely helped me.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow I\u2019ve got the Welsh type of game and I am really excited to be here.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be part of a winning culture and part of something where I can see there is growth and honesty and clarity.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am really big on family and having a sense of camaraderie and all pulling towards a place.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving met all these Welsh people and seeing what Cardiff means to them has been so cool. Being part of the 150th year has been great.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As he lay on the Toulouse turf looking down at his horrifically damaged ankle, Le Roux Malan feared…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":809125,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-809124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/809124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=809124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/809124\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/809125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=809124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=809124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=809124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}