The 25-year-old winger scored a try against Ireland earlier this year and despite experiencing pain while playing, it was only after the game that he discovered the extent of the damage and was ultimately rules out for several months.

He told Telegraph Sport: “In the warm-up, I felt fine.

“Then it was off a little counterattack in the first half, I stepped off my left foot and it was like: ‘Oh, that is sore.’ At half-time I needed painkillers to sort it out.

“Adrenaline gets you through and I was walking around afterwards. I had an X-ray and there wasn’t much there, but stress fractures show up over time.

“I went and saw a specialist, who said I’d had a ‘stress response’ but that it could develop… That scan showed a stress fracture all the way through my fourth met(atarsal), which ruled me out for a few months.”

Cadan admitted his recovery was “weird” because he couldn’t do much but he appreciated getting the time to “reset”.

He said: “It’s a weird rehab process because you can’t do anything for it apart from sit around, take calcium and vitamin D tablets and wait for the bone to heal.

“It was a good opportunity to reset my body, fix my body and put a plan in place to come back quicker and stronger and get back into that jersey.”