By Paul Jones
Theo Cabango is hoping his New Year’s wish comes true and he won’t have any more problems with his shoulders.
The 21-year-old Cardiff flyer has had bad luck in his first few seasons in senior rugby and been forced to have surgery on both shoulders.
After recovering from the first operation, he started this season with a bang and scored a 70-metre breakaway try at Parc Y Scarlets.
My @Cardiff_Rugby season membership was delivered today by a new “postman”; a young lad who scored one of the great Cardiff tries.
A lovely lad.
Thank you Theo Cabango and best of luck in the new season.— Huw G Jones (@HuwGJones310) September 21, 2023
As he dived for the line, Johnny McNicholl caught him and Cabango damaged his shoulder in the act of scoring. Now he is hoping to return by the middle of March.
“I worked hard to get back from the first injury and I was feeling really good. I’d had a couple of good games and felt confident, a lot more confident than I had in the past,” said Cabango.
“I thought this would be my season, and I’d get through it without any injuries. I was hoping to have a good season, but it was just one of those things.
“The surgery is done now and it’s healing really quickly. Hopefully, both shoulders will now be locked in for life and it won’t happen again.
“I was pretty gutted when it happened, although it wasn’t one of the worst things to go out with a try like that, but I was obviously gutted. Now I just can’t wait to be back.
“My parents told me they were proud of what I’d achieved so far and to treat it as only a minor setback. I hope to come back even better.”
Theo Cabango puts on the afterburners to score try number two for @Cardiff_RFC#IndigoPrem pic.twitter.com/PkyJ6UGYFY
— The Indigo Prem (@IndigoPrem) January 27, 2022
Possessed with great speed, Cabango made his senior debut for his home region against Toulouse in the Champions Cup at the Arms Park in 2021 while the majority of the Cardiff squad were stranded in South Africa during COVID.
He found himself up against Matthis Lebel on that day, and a week later he scored a cracker against Harlequins at Twickenham Stoop.
Those two performances marked the Cardiff-born wing out as a potential star of the future.
“Playing against Toulouse was one of the best experiences I’ve had in my life. I walked into the ground with Jacob Beetham and then we saw Dupont and Ntamac getting changed,” said Cabango.
“I couldn’t believe it was happening, although as soon as I got on the pitch and saw the crowd it was down to work and I saw them as just the same as other players.”
Once he’s back in action, Cabango hopes to continue his pursuit of Welsh honours to try to catch up with elder brother, footballer Ben.
Cabango senior has been a regular at Swansea City since 2019 and has earned seven caps for Wales.
https://twitter.com/SwanseaCity_fc/status/1642205807499526145?s=20
