Rocky road to the World Cup

The road to the World Cup is getting harder for the Wallabies, with the news that captain Rocky Elsom may not play for another two months, drastically reducing his capacity to be match fit before the test season.

Elsom, sidelined since last year with a chronic hamstring injury, does not expect to play for the Brumbies until well into May.

When asked about his return to full fitness, Elsom said he was pleased with his progress.

“[I’ll be back to full fitness] in between one and two months, it sounds like a long time but I'm actually pretty happy with that,” he said.

“I'm not worried, I'm confident that my leg is getting better and once it is better I'll be able to dive back in. But you can never be sure of anything so there's no point worrying about things you can't do anything about.”

Elsom is unconcerned by the interest surrounding his slow return to fitness, choosing instead to focus on his rehabilitation and training.

“It's very easy for me to focus just on what I'm doing now, there's only really two types of days. Days where I run and days where I don't.

“So it's very easy to try and get the most out of it and progress because obviously I want to be back playing first and then obviously the World Cup is a fair way away.”

Elsom was reluctant to comment on former Wallaby Tim Horan’s calls for him to relinquish his captaincy in order to focus on his return to the game, saying only that he was confident that he could return to match fitness and cope with the captaincy.

“That's what I intend to do. It's my job,” he said.

Elsom refused to comment on the suggestion that Queensland Reds captain James Horwill could replace him as captain now that he had also returned from a serious leg injury.

Meanwhile, the Brumbies’ disastrous 2011 season continues unabated, posting just one win from six games. After axing coach Andy Friend and losing star playmaker Adam Ashley-Cooper to the Waratahs, the beleaguered club is hoping for a turnaround in fortune.

“The guys haven't been over the moon this season, there's obvious reasons for that but I think [they’ve] really been putting their head down as far as training goes and really getting stuck in with the things they need to work on,” Elsom said.

“In some games it's been excruciating that they haven't been able to get a win out of it but by the same token it means they have things to work on so I think the guys have been focused on that.”

Elsom says the intense media scrutiny on the club has been difficult to ignore but admits the negative press may be warranted.

“I think that when you have various opinions coming across it's important to decide as a group what is important and commit yourself to that.”

“It sounds very simple but sometimes is hard to do when people throw barbs from different corners, and they could be right in some areas, but as a group it's important to commit to what you decide is important and stick to that.”

Rocky Elsom will be in Surry Hills this week to promote Australia's Garage Sale Trail. Find out more.