Michael Cheika has called up hooker James Hanson and second row Sam Carter to the Australia World Cup squad, as replacements for the injured number eight Wycliff Palu and lock Will Skelton.
Both Palu and Skelton sustained injuries in Australia’s comprehensive win over Uruguay on Sunday, with the former tweaking a hamstring and the latter suffering a pectoral injury.
Hanson and Carter were both part of the initial Wallabies’ World Cup training squad, and featured in their victory over the USA in Chicago last month.
Wallabies Head Coach Michael Cheika said it was disappointing to see the tournament end for Palu and Skelton after solid contributions by the pair throughout the international season.
“Very few players have the opportunity to play for the Wallabies, let alone at a Rugby World Cup, so from that perspective I’m really gutted for them.
“From a team perspective, they both play important roles in the side and it is disappointing that we need to replace players in our squad.”
Cheika said he had complete faith in Hanson and Carter to fill the void left by the duo for the remainder of the tournament.
“Both James and Sam have been part of the team at various stages this season and I am confident they will be able to step up and grasp the opportunity they have been given.”
Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images
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is it just me, or does it seem that there are far more injuries in this WC than ever before?
Are players over-conditioned and more fragile?
Or – are players just bigger, more powerful – and therefore causing too many injuries in contact?
General chatter amongst Aus fans is that this seems to be no big loss – Palu is too old and Skelton too young. Feel sorry for the guys themselves but doesn’t seem to be a considerable effect on the team – many feel the call ups are better players.
I was also wondering that Blub. Cory Allan got me thinking – trained hard, plays 50 mins of rugby and tears his hamstring. This doesn’t happen to us enthusiastic amateurs so it must be some result of the conditioning?
Muscles get bigger tendons don’t therefore lots of ligaments style injuries and dislocations as players grow
I was wondering the same thing about the number of injuries so far. I know World Cups bring a fair amount of injuries but we’re two games in (plus 3 or 4 warms ups) and the number of injuries ruling players out seems high, but maybe it isn’t compared to past WC’s?
Wales’ injury list is certainly high. Other countries have lost 1 or 2 each, which doesn’t feel too different.
One wonders about the Welsh build up – they put in a lot of work that seems to have made them the fittest NH team (though they’re probably still a ways off NZ, Aus and SA). Did they cram in to much too fast, to the detriment of their injury rate?