USA prop Mike MacDonald is back in action this weekend after being out since early January with a hand injury.

MacDonald broke a bone and tore a tendon on his hand. But after a ten-week layoff he is back ready to play, and could be starting against the Bedford Blues in the RFU Championship playoffs this weekend.

Coming back, said MacDonald, wasn’t too hard. He just had to wait for it to heal more than anything.

“I was able to stay quite involved with the team and what the game plans were,” MacDonald told RUGBYMag.com. “The hard part was just having to sit and watch without being able to help out on the field. It was really frustrating.”

The former Cal captain and current all-time leading caps-earner for the USA is a veteran on a Leeds team that is in something of a rebuilding stage.

“The team is young and are learning on the job,” said MacDonald, who will suit up with former and (he hopes, future) Eagle Robbie Shaw. “I am hoping to try to help solidify the set piece and add a level head when we start to come under pressure.”

MacDonald said he still intends to make himself available for the USA National Team, and will be part of a solid group of veteran props hoping to break back into the Eagles.

Of course, if he helps Leeds make it to the Championship final, that’s a two-game series May 23 and May 30, which abuts the first USA assembly. So whether MacDonald will need to take time off or not is unclear.

“I’m hoping that i can help out in any way that I can,” he said.