It was a freak injury for the full-back but Stoddart insists that the pain in his leg has faded over time.
He told the Western Mail: "It was just bad luck how the injury happened. I was tackled from behind.
"You could be tackled 10 times like that in a game and nothing happens. It wasn't the best time for it to happen with the World Cup coming up and I was probably playing the best I had for Wales.
"They told me, after I did the injury, I would be out for a minimum of a year and that's proved the case. The rod runs from just below my knee to above my ankle. It's there forever. I had the screws out attaching it to the ankle about eight weeks ago to stop the pain.
"They were irritating me. It's still a bit painful, not so much during training but the next day."
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