Rugby Championship
Genia out for six months
2012-09-12 08:02
Brisbane - Australian rugby officials confirmed
Wednesday that stand-in captain Will Genia will be out for six months
after surgery for a knee injury suffered in the Rugby Championship win
over the Springboks.
The Wallabies rallied from behind to beat
South Africa 26-19 in Perth on Saturday, drawing a line under their
humiliating 22-0 drubbing by the All Blacks in the second game of the
four-nations Championship.
But victory came at a steep cost, with
Genia hobbling from the ground late in the game with a ruptured anterior
cruciate ligament in his right knee - the third Australian skipper to
be felled by injury this year.
Rugby officials said the injured
halfback underwent surgery in Brisbane on Wednesday and a "full
reconstruction was required of the ACL".
"Today's procedure went
well but Genia will now be sidelined for an estimated six months of
rehabilitation before he can return to the field of play," a team
spokesman said.
Genia assumed the captaincy after skipper David
Pocock was sidelined for three months by a knee injury suffered in
Australia's opening Rugby Championship game against New Zealand in
August.
Pocock was himself standing in for first-choice leader
James Horwill, who is recovering from a Super Rugby hamstring injury,
sparking claims that the Wallabies captaincy is cursed.
Veteran lock Nathan Sharpe leads Australia onto the park for Saturday's Test against Argentina.