Liam Wright says he hopes to be fit for November’s Spring Tour campaign but admits the past two months have been the most frustrating of his career after a bung shoulder cut short his Wallabies captaincy almost as quickly as it came.

“Given what was at stake, it has been the most challenging,” Wright told The Roar.

“I feel like probably the hardest part was I didn’t really get to enjoy the end of the week and after the game as much as I probably could have or should have, and just my mind immediately went to knowing that the shoulder didn’t feel quite right, and worrying about trying to get it back up and ready for the next Test … whenever that would be.”

Wright, 26, came from the clouds in early July to be named as Joe Schmidt’s first Wallabies captain.

Given his previous Test was almost four years earlier, many didn’t even have Wright in their preferred Wallabies squad let alone captain. Indeed, the Queensland Reds – and NSW Waratahs – hadn’t even been able to squeeze a national top up out of Rugby Australia when pitching his new one-year deal.

But after an injury-free season at long last, Schmidt not only named the loose-forward at blindside flanker to take on Wales but as his skipper too.

Wright’s tenure lasted just one week, with the gritty Reds forward forced off midway through the second half.

His early departure flew under the radar, with Wright showing up at the post-match press conference and not hinting on a possible injury.

“It was sort of a tackle early in the second half, like early 40 minutes, and then it just gradually shut down over the next 10 or 15 minutes.

“After it happened, I went up for a line out, it was sort of good, full range, and then the next line out I went up for another and I had three quarter [movement] and then after a run and a clean out, it was only halfway. Towards the end there, I think we gave the penalty away around 57 minutes, I made a tackle just before that and you can probably see just my arms just hanging there, I’m holding it and just trying to shift them towards the other side.

“The doctor checked it out a few minutes before and it still had a little bit of function, but by then it was just gone, and I just figured I’d hurt the team if I was still out there.”

Days later, The Roar revealed Wright would miss the next Test after pulling up lame.

Although Wright continued to be with the Wallabies over the next couple of weeks, the flanker had his bicep operated on following the Georgia Test in Sydney with the hope of returning in time to take on the All Blacks.

However, it became apparent that timeline would have to be pushed back.

“I guess that was probably the hard part, is flipping between,’ oh it’s a serious, it’s a big one, to, oh no, it’s a knock and it’ll be back in a few weeks’,” said Wright, who hasn’t been on a Spring Tour since Michael Cheika first picked him as a development player in 2017.

“I initially reacted like I was like, ‘I can’t move my arm, I can’t lift it, it’s going to be a big one, a bad one.’ Then we were trying to not jump too far down the road and hoping it would be back normal within 10 days sort of thing.

“It was probably the hope that 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁ed me in the end.

“Then when I still couldn’t lift it after that, I was like, ‘oh well there’s got to be something else’ and that’s when we had the bicep surgery.

“Often with these injuries you kind of want it to be a one and done thing but this one just seemed to be like there was multiple components to it.

“I feel like it’s started to turn now finally, so I’m pushing towards that Spring Tour return. It feels the best it’s felt, so I’m just getting as much strength as I can into it before a rugby reintegration around mid-October when the Wallabies camps are up in Brissy.”

Having played his last Bledisloe Test in 2020, Wright said it was “tough” missing out on another trans-Tasman fixture having just re-entered the international conversation.

“It’s just been tough knowing how long it took to get back to that sort of area and how quickly it can go again,” Wright said.

“I am confident that if I can get myself fit, then I can fit back into that squad and put myself in a position to earn a jersey.”

Despite featuring in just one of the seven Tests to date this year, the well-recognised leader said he had been in continual dialogue with Schmidt.

“While the boys were in Australia early, especially those Springboks games, they were training around Ballymore and Joe was very keen to have me in at the meetings and things like that,” Wright said.

“Geoff [Parling] has been touching base as well with anything I see or can help with, but at the same time, I’ve been trying to keep my focus on what I can control, which is rehab, and there’s plenty of guys in there, plenty of generals that are getting the stuff done.”

As for watching his long-time teammate Harry Wilson’s equally extraordinary ascension to the Wallabies captaincy, Wright said the duo have kept in close dialogue over the past month.

“It’s an amazing journey for Wilso,” Wright said. “He’s a great man and he always puts his body on the line for whatever jersey he’s wearing.

“We’ve had, again, a long journey together. He’s had some setbacks this year as well and the last few years with selection and stuff like that.

“I think it just shows the type of person he is, and I think he’s been rewarded because of the type of person he is. Joe seems to like a guy who’ll graft and do the hard work there. I’m really proud of him.

“I think he’s done a good job as well, especially, as you say, he hasn’t had a whole lot of captaincy experience and he’s handled it with a lot of poise. I’m pretty proud of him.

“We caught up this week when he was back and just great to see him back where he belongs.”

As for deciding to re-sign with the Reds, Wright said his growth and development on the field under Les Kiss’ coached environment made the decision easier to stick at Ballymore.

“I think this last year has really shown me that this is exactly where I want to be,” the homegrown talent said.

“I feel like I can keep growing my game under Les and Fish [Jonathan Fisher] and Brad [Davis] and Chok [Zane Hilton], and I think my game grew a little bit this year and there’s still plenty of room for that to grow next year.

“That was the pleasing thing to show where I can potentially get to.

“So, this is exactly where I want to be. Ballymore’s done a lot for me and it’s my home and it’s 100 per cent where I want to be.

“We’ve still got a lot of growth in us, and then personally as well, there’s things I want to achieve still here in Queensland and Australia. I’m really happy to be locked in for another 12 months.”