Pocock in doubt for England Test

Updated November 13, 2012 07:00:41

David Pocock sat out Wallabies' training in London on Monday and remains in doubt for this weekend's clash with England after having scans on a calf muscle.

Pocock attended training on Monday afternoon but was only a spectator along with full-back Mike Harris, who has a minor leg injury.

Brumbies' recruit Pocock was expected to make his long-awaited return from injury at Twickenham on Sunday morning (AEDT) but this latest setback has the number seven in serious doubt.

Robbie Deans's side has never needed Pocock more after the Wallabies were trounced 33-6 in their European tour opener against France.

Pocock has not played since suffering a knee injury in the opening Bledisloe Cup game against the All Blacks in August.

It is unlikely the Wallabies would take any risks with Pocock, who was resigned to stretching while the squad trained on a rainy London day.

With Harris staying under cover, Berrick Barnes ran at full-back as the backline worked on some set moves.

Barnes, who made his return off the bench against France, is expected to start against England.

The tour has the potential to turn into a nightmare for the Wallabies as they head to Twickenham to face a confident England side who are chasing a third straight Cook Cup win over Australia.

New coach Stuart Lancaster's side ran in seven tries as they destroyed Fiji 54-12 and Wallabies hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau knows they will be gunning for the Australians.

Polota-Nau says stopping England's offloads will be one of the keys to winning the game.

"The French did very well in that aspect last week and we need to stop it from happening at Twickenham. I'm sure it's something they'll be looking to exploit, so the pressure is on us to be better in the contact area," Polota-Nau said.

"Obviously we didn't start the tour well but now we just want to make sure we finish off well, starting with England.

"It's going to be a big challenge for us, particularly in the forwards, their scrums and lineouts are the keys to how they get their attacking platforms.

"We need to dominate them in the scrum and really pressure them in defence to give ourselves a chance."

AAP

Tags: rugby-union, sport, england, australia

First posted November 13, 2012 07:00:41

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Pocock in doubt for second Bledisloe clash

Updated August 19, 2012 18:41:16

Wallabies captain David Pocock will wait on the opinion of a surgeon but is likely to miss Australia's return Bledisloe Cup clash against New Zealand in Auckland.

The openside flanker suffered damage to the articular cartilage of his right knee in the first half of Saturday night's 27-19 loss to the All Blacks in Sydney.

Scans on Sunday confirmed the injury and a consultation with a surgeon on Monday morning will determine Pocock's rehabilitation period.

The signs do not look good for the Australian skipper, with a return against South Africa on September 8 in Perth tipped to be the best-case scenario.

Adding to the Wallabies' injury pain, Ben McCalman has been ruled out for three months after undergoing surgery on his forearm on Saturday night.

Without Pocock, Australia's main threat at the breakdown, Deans anticipated things could get tough in Auckland.

"The All Blacks are the best in that area. They produce a lot of pressure," he told Grandstand on Saturday night.

"And obviously that was a big part of their game tonight."

He said half-back Will Genia would lead the side next Saturday if Pocock was unavailable.

Deans reported no other injury issues arising from Saturday's game.

Asked if he would recall five-eighth Quade Cooper for next week's game, Deans said "obviously he'll be considered."

Deans said he had no doubt Australia would perform better in Auckland after Saturday's mistake-ridden performance.

"We probably gave the All Blacks a leg-up with some of our unforced errors, which was out of character for a couple of blokes," Deans added.

"So if we alleviate those... and set-piece tries, they shouldn't happen. That is just [missed] one-on-one tackles."

Deans was not putting the poor display down to a lack of match intensity in the build-up to the opening encounter.

"[The squad] has had a lot of opposed work," he said.

"Credit to the All Blacks in terms of how they created pressure.

"But some of it [the mistakes] was inexcusable regardless of the circumstance."

Genia said the Wallabies simply needed to be more clinical if they were to have a chance at knocking over the powerful New Zealanders.

"The first half we let ourselves down with simple execution errors," he said.

"We couldn't have been more poor in terms of our accuracy in terms of what we wanted to do."

ABC/AAP

Tags: sport, rugby-union, australia

First posted August 19, 2012 11:14:28

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Mortlock in doubt for Rebels opener

Updated February 24, 2012 17:02:30

Rebels captain Stirling Mortlock has until Wednesday to prove his injured calf is up to taking on New South Wales in Melbourne's Super Rugby season opener.

The first-round bye has given the former Test skipper extra time to recover from his troublesome injury but Rebels coach Damien Hill concedes that Mortlock was no certainty to play at AAMI Park next Friday night.

In better news, star signing Wallabies full-back Kurtley Beale, who missed their final trial with a hamstring injury, is on track to play.

"Kurtley ran well this morning so so far things are going to plan," Hill said.

"Stirling's calf injury is dragging on a little bit so we'll wait and see how that pulls up, he's probably 50/50 at this stage."

While Mortlock injured his calf just before their opening trial at the start of the month, starting hooker Ged Robinson is also in doubt with a calf injury, which forced him off the field early in their loss to the Crusaders last weekend.

Hill says he wants to have the line-up settled at least by Wednesday.

Beale has had hamstring issues since last year's World Cup and Hill says it is a fine balance between pushing his fitness and his recovery.

The 23-year-old Beale has spoken of his desire to take on his old team, the Waratahs, but Hill says that will not come into consideration.

"It's more important that the injury's right," Hill said.

"We'd be silly to rush him and to put him at risk of further or worse injury.

"He's had a history of these injuries before but I've got full faith in our medical guys.

"We won't rush him if that's the decision we have to make but so far everything's looking good."

The entire Rebels squad intended to get together to watch the Waratahs host the Super Rugby champions Queensland on Saturday night.

Hill says he expects the Reds to again be "great".

"They look strong again, Ewen (McKenzie) did a great job last year and will do another very good job this year so they'll be thereabouts," he said.

"They'll be brimming with confidence at the moment so they should be ranked number one in Australia."

AAP

Tags: super-rugby, rugby-union, sport, melbourne-3000

First posted February 24, 2012 16:39:51

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Horne in major doubt for Wallabies

Updated December 02, 2011 10:49:01

Anthony Faingaa is in line to replace Rob Horne in Australia's starting line-up for Sunday morning's (AEDT) Test against Wales in Cardiff.

Outside centre Horne pulled up with hamstring tightness at Thursday's training session outside of Swansea.

Faingaa is expected to be elevated off the bench with half-back Nick Phipps coming onto the bench.

Horne, 22, will be given until Friday morning to prove his fitness but it is unlikely the Wallabies will risk him considering his history of hamstring problems.

"Rob Horne finished training today a bit tight so there is a possibility that he might not be able to take his place," Wallabies coach Robbie Deans said.

Horne's career has been punctuated by injuries.

He was dogged by hamstring problems early on and elbow troubles have stifled his progress in recent times.

The Waratahs player had looked like he was cementing his place in the national team following some good showings at the World Cup.

He played on and scored a try with a broken cheekbone in Australia's group win over the USA.

He also put in a strong 71-minute performance, after coming on for Kurtley Beale, in Australia's 21-18 win over Wales in the World Cup bronze medal match.

AAP

Tags: rugby-union, sport, wales, australia

First posted December 02, 2011 07:33:05

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Barnes, Beale doubt lingers for Waratahs

Posted April 26, 2011 12:23:00

Berrick Barnes needs to show confidence in contact training if he is to play in the NSW Waratahs' Super Rugby clash with the Melbourne Rebels on Saturday night.

Five-eighth Barnes has missed several matches while recovering from concussion and, while he has been passed medically fit, the 24-year-old must feel comfortable in his role in a contact session before being given the green light by coach Chris Hickey.

Fellow Wallaby Kurtley Beale did not train on Tuesday as he battles to recover from lateral ligament damage in his knee.

The injury is not serious, but Beale will need to be monitored and his chances of turning out at the Sydney Football Stadium on Saturday depend on how he responds to training later in the week.

The Waratahs mounting injury woes again claimed Phil Waugh, the captain picking up a nasty hamstring tear in the weekend loss to Queensland which will keep him out at least two weeks.

It is the third different injury for Waugh this season and the ageing warrior admits he is struggling to find a balance of how hard to push his body.

"It's extremely frustrating but it's a fine line and you've got to push yourself throughout your career all the time and sometimes you push yourself harder than the body can handle," Waugh said on Tuesday.

"Right at the end of the game, literally as I was about to come off, pretty much the last run (I did my hamstring).

"Unfortunately that's sport and I just need to recover as quickly as possible.

"It's fairly significant so it's just a matter of trying to rehab it as quick as possible and get back on the field ... it'll at least be a couple of weeks."

Australian representatives Drew Mitchell, Rob Horne and Wycliff Palu are also on the NSW injury list.

However in good news for the team, Wallabies hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau is on track to face the Rebels after a head knock forced him from the field against the Reds.

- AAP

Tags: sport, rugby-union, super-14, australia, nsw, sydney-2000

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NZ's Dagg in doubt for World Cup

Posted May 17, 2011 14:30:00

All Blacks full-back Israel Dagg has undergone surgery on a ruptured tendon in his right thigh and could be out of action for anything between two to five months.

Dagg injured his leg executing a clearing kick in the Crusaders' 20-14 victory over the Stormers in Cape Town on May 7. He was one of four Crusaders' players sent home from South Africa after the match and had surgery on Monday.

Utility Adam Whitelock also had surgery on his torn pectoral muscle, while winger Sean Maitland (foot) is scheduled to have surgery on Wednesday.

Dagg is expected to be out for at least three months, meaning he would miss the truncated Tri-Nations in July/August and his likely inclusion in Graham Henry's All Blacks World Cup squad for the September 9-October 23 tournament in New Zealand is in doubt.

- Reuters

Tags: sport, rugby-union, super-14, new-zealand

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Barnes, Beale doubt lingers for Waratahs

Posted April 26, 2011 12:23:00

Berrick Barnes needs to show confidence in contact training if he is to play in the NSW Waratahs' Super Rugby clash with the Melbourne Rebels on Saturday night.

Five-eighth Barnes has missed several matches while recovering from concussion and, while he has been passed medically fit, the 24-year-old must feel comfortable in his role in a contact session before being given the green light by coach Chris Hickey.

Fellow Wallaby Kurtley Beale did not train on Tuesday as he battles to recover from lateral ligament damage in his knee.

The injury is not serious, but Beale will need to be monitored and his chances of turning out at the Sydney Football Stadium on Saturday depend on how he responds to training later in the week.

The Waratahs mounting injury woes again claimed Phil Waugh, the captain picking up a nasty hamstring tear in the weekend loss to Queensland which will keep him out at least two weeks.

It is the third different injury for Waugh this season and the ageing warrior admits he is struggling to find a balance of how hard to push his body.

"It's extremely frustrating but it's a fine line and you've got to push yourself throughout your career all the time and sometimes you push yourself harder than the body can handle," Waugh said on Tuesday.

"Right at the end of the game, literally as I was about to come off, pretty much the last run (I did my hamstring).

"Unfortunately that's sport and I just need to recover as quickly as possible.

"It's fairly significant so it's just a matter of trying to rehab it as quick as possible and get back on the field ... it'll at least be a couple of weeks."

Australian representatives Drew Mitchell, Rob Horne and Wycliff Palu are also on the NSW injury list.

However in good news for the team, Wallabies hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau is on track to face the Rebels after a head knock forced him from the field against the Reds.

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