Christian Lealiifano coy on Ulster move as leukaemia survivor admits he thought he'd never play again

The Australian international was diagnosed with leukaemia in August 2016, but could be on his way to Ireland after returning to the professional game last month

Christian Lealiifano is being heavily linked with a move to Ulster after recovering from leukaemia (Getty)

Almost 12 months to the day, Christian Lealiifano’s world was turned upside down. The Australian rugby international discovered in August 2016 that he had leukaemia, just two weeks after playing in the Brumbies’ final Super Rugby game of the season.

Less than a year later, the utility back came off the replacements’ bench to make his comeback to professional rugby in one of the heart-warming stories of the season. The 29-year-old had to undergo chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant, before getting the best news possible in February this year: he was in remission.

Capped 19 times by the Wallabies since making his debut against the British and Irish Lions in 2013, Lealiifano was given the green light to resume his rugby career, and he was given an emotional welcome when he returned in the Brumbies’ Super Rugby quarter-final defeat by the Hurricanes in July, 11 months after his original diagnosis.

“When I first started training I thought I would never play football again,” Lealiifano said.

“When the doctor gave me the all clear that I could return back to work, that was when I had my eye on the prize.”

The prize is taking every day one step at a time, despite the immediate return to the normalities of professional rugby. Talk of an Australian comeback this week was played down by Lealiifano, not least because he is being linked with a short-term move to Irish side Ulster that would put his Wallabies career on hold even further due to him falling well short of the 60-cap threshold for overseas players.

“I have not really thought too much about it - I will just work through each day and each game,” he said, before adding that he is “exploring options” in both the Australian National Rugby Championship as well as overseas.

“Nothing has been locked away yet - it is something in the pipeline.”

Lealiifano returned for the Brumbies in July in their final Super Rugby match of the season (Getty)

Remarkably, after all that he has been through, the New Zealand-born Lealiifano says that he would repeat it all again, including the hard times, because of the way it has “changed” his outlook on life.

“I would go through this 10 times again for the person I am today,” Lealiifano explained. “The journey I have been through and the person that I have become.”