Injuries are the curse of the athlete, the cruelty administered by the sporting gods seem to strike more often than not, when the participant is playing at the top of their game.

This is certainly the case with Harlequins fly half Victoria Petersson , the Swedes are no strangers to the power and unpredictability of Norse gods, certainly the thunderbolt that hit the Quins number ten early in the second half of the match against Bristol Bears could have come from Thor himself.

Whilst attempting a “jackal” at a breakdown Vic suffered a hamstring injury that ripped two tendons off the bone, left one hanging off, and the remainder descending five centimetres.

I have seen players with a similar injury carried off the field being given oxygen, Vic stood up and was helped off, they breed them tough in Kalmar, the agony etched on her face was almost too painful to watch.

I spoke to Quins coach Gary Street before the game he and I talked about how superbly Miss Petersson was playing, in the form of her life, bossing the game, organising those around her, the silken running and perfect timing of the pass were getting better and better game by game, the perfect time for the sporting gods to strike.

I have watched some pretty special players over the last fifty years and all the very good ones appear to have more time on the ball than those around them, it is as if they operate in another dimension of time and space, Vic is a member of that exclusive club.

Surgery beckons and rehab, Vic, never one to feel sorry for herself, will pour her heart and soul into it, I have met few people better at turning a negative into a positive than the speedy Swede.

With age on her side this is just a stop at the motorway services on her rugby road, one which I feel sure will provide us all with plenty more glimpses of those silky skills.

“Av skadan blir man vis” is a Swedish saying the roughly translates to Adversity is the mother of wisdom, and hopefully “Eir” the Norse god of healing, and “Forseti the God of justice, will combine their powers to get this charming affable and popular Swede back on the field of play as soon as possible.

Vic leads Quins out last Saturday at Surrey Sports Park