British & Irish Lion Jonathan Davies will still be sidelined by a knee injury for another six or seven months but the Wales centre insists he is pleased with the way his recovery is progressing.
Davies played in all three Tests against Australia during the Lions’ successful 2013 tour Down Under, while also scoring three tries in the non-Test matches.
But the 27-year-old ruptured a cruciate ligament while playing for club side Clermont Auvergne in May, ruling him out of September’s World Cup and leaving him needing surgery.
Wales will be looking to improve on their 2011 World Cup performance, when they reached the semi-finals, and head coach Warren Gatland currently has his squad on a training camp in Switzerland.
And while Davies knows his countrymen will certainly be being put through their places, he is convinced the intensity of the camps will serve them well in the long-term.
“I remember four years ago the Spala camps in Poland, they were very brutal,” Davies told BBC Sport.
“But physically you're in the best shape of your life and what they're trying to do this year is go one better and I think it's good.
“You get away with the boys, you come together you become close and though you don't really like the training but you're all in it together and that's important in the long run.
“Wales as a squad in the last few years we've got better the more time we've spent together.
“The boys will be very well prepared and going in to the World Cup there will be confidence.
“I had my knee operation two and a bit or three weeks ago and touch wood everything’s gone alright.
“I’m just slowly doing a little bit of rehab now – nothing too serious. But it’s going to take a while, though hopefully I’ll be back playing in six or seven months.”
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