Greening plays down speedy return

Wasps and England hooker Phil Greening yesterday played down his chances of a speedy return to action following his pre-Christmas knee operation.

'I am hoping to be fit for England's game against Wales at the beginning of February,' said Greening. 'But I am not going to rush back in case it is too soon.' Greening has resumed training with Wasps, but he added: 'I cannot take full part in training.

'I was originally expected to be out for about two weeks but the surgeon found other problems.

It was a big operation, but the knee is brilliant now.' However, Greening was fit enough to work on his line-out throws with world darts champion Phil Taylor. 'He gave me tips on how to cope under pressure,' he said. 'When you make one or two bad throws in a game, everyone thinks you have a problem.' Another player under the surgeon's knife is 32-year-old Northampton Saints skipper Pat Lam, who had keyhole surgery on his left shoulder in a London hospital yesterday.