All Black to make full recovery after being hospitalised

The illness, which initially mystified medical personnel, has been diagnosed as lumbar discitis - a painful infection of the spine.

He was in so much pain in the lower back he could not walk, after being struck down in Japan.

Thomson, 35, has been in hospital in Tokyo for over a week with doctors struggling to identify the problem that has given him "excruciating pain".

The 29-Test All Black was rushed to the A&E department in the middle of the night.

Discitis is inflammation amid the discs of the spine, leading to pain. Discitis is relatively uncommon.

A spokesman for Thomson told stuff.co.nz he was expected to make a full recovery.

There were no plans for him to return to New Zealand "at this moment, the team there is handling it well".

He said initial reports the player had been unable to walk were incorrect, it was more that trying to walk put Thomson in extreme pain.

"Adam is incredibly humbled and grateful from all the support he has received from around the world, the response has been incredible. Of course, especially his partner Jessie and family who have been amazing."

Thomson mustered enough humour over the situation in a post on his Instagram account to write: "It was touch and go for awhile [sic] and we almost had to amputate but to the credit of this crack Japanese medical team they were able to save the moustache".

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He added: "... it's been a tough week full of unexpected challenges. It's going to be a long road to get back on my feet but I'm up for it".

Thomson played almost a century of Super Rugby matches for the Highlanders, Reds and Rebels and first played in Tokyo in 2013.

His partner Jessie Gurunathan said the illness gave her the "biggest fright in the 6 years we've been doing life together."  

Source: stuff.co.nz