Nelson - Australian winger Drew Mitchell could be out of the World Cup after suffering an apparent hamstring injury in the game against Russia, coach Robbie Deans said on Saturday.
Mitchell pulled up sharply during the second half of Australia's 68-22 win, becoming the latest in Australia's long list of injury victims. Coach Robbie Deans feared he could now miss the rest of the tournament.
"That's what it appears from a distance. I haven't had an opportunity to talk to him nor the medical staff but yeah, it doesn't look great," said Deans.
The Wallabies' stocks of able-bodied backs are so low that backrower Radike Samo played on the wing against Russia, and when Mitchell went off he was replaced by scrum-half Nick Phipps.
Australia are through to the quarter-finals where they will face South Africa if Ireland beat Italy in the final Pool C match on Sunday. An Italy win would pit Australia against Wales.
"We got what we wanted out of it (the win), apart from picking up an injury obviously which looks bad," Deans said.
Follow Sport24 on Twitter and Facebook
Your Name
* Your Email
* Recipient's name
* Recipient's email
Your message
If you want to email this page to more than one person, just put a semicolon ";" between the email addresses. * = Compulsory
24.com publishes all comments posted on articles provided that they adhere to our Comments Policy. Should you wish to report a comment for editorial review, please do so by clicking the 'Report Comment' button to the right of each comment.
A few vital life lessons from Tank Lanning's recent trip to New Zealand for the Rugby World Cup quarter and semi-finals. Read More
Monday
LowHigh
15°C18°C
Australia
South Africa
Argentina
One of the Six Nations countries
New Zealand will defend their title
View Results | Vote Archive
12% Australia
63% South Africa
1% Argentina
10% One of the Six Nations countries
13% New Zealand will defend their title
Vote Archive
Twitter Follow Sport24 on Twitter
Newsletters Sign up for Sport24's Morning Glory newsletter
Blogs Yes your opinion counts. Get it out there
WIN Enter and win with Sport24!
Mobile Sport24 on your mobile phone - WAP, alerts, downloads, services
BlackBerry Stay in the loop on your BlackBerry
iPhone Latest Sport24 news on your iPhone
Facebook "Like" Sport24's Facebook page
TV schedule Plan your couch time with our searchable sport TV guide
RSS Feeds Sport news delivered really simply.