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Sydney - Wallabies lock Adam Coleman will be heading home from their end-of-year tour, after confirmation of a medial ligament strain.
Coleman hurt his knee in just the fifth minute of
Australia’s 23-22 win over Scotland last weekend, with scans in the days since
confirming a grade two strain.
The 204cm lock’s injury is a particularly bad blow for the
Wallabies, with Coleman a standout in his nine Tests this season, taking on the
lineout calling responsibilities and forging a strong partnership with fellow
rookie Rory Arnold.
“Adam’s got an injury that’s going to rule him out of the
rest of the tour,” said Wallabies coach Michael Cheika.
“I think it’s a grade two medial strain so we’ll get him
home and get him healed and then he can have a holiday before next season
starts.
“It’s bit of a shame for him because he’s had a really good
start to the year and he’s worked his way through since June but in saying that
it gives someone else an opportunity.”
Cheika said it was an unfortunate turn of events for
Coleman, but said the positive was that they had seen his potential this
season.
“There’s two ways to look at it,” he added.
“There’s discovery, so we’ve been able to find, get those
two guys playing good rugby and starting to improve at this level and we’ve
also got ourselves another very, very handy lineout caller and he’s only in
single digit Tests.
“He’s disappointed but that’s the way footy goes sometimes,
you’ve just got to go with it.”
Eight players have been flown into the Wallabies setup for
the next two weeks, with a midweek tour match against the French Barbarians set
for November 24, though any of those could be considered for Saturday’s Test
against France, Cheika said.
One of those players is Brumbies lock Sam Carter, who
already has 13 Test caps, while Rob Simmons, Kane Douglas, Dean Mumm and Will
Skelton have all featured in the Wallabies second row this season and could be
replacements for Coleman.
Simmons would seem the most likely, having replaced the
24-year-old in Edinburgh, taking up the lineout calling duties.
Cheika said any of the new additions would be in the mix to
stay with the squad if they impressed in training.
“I’ve told all the players that they’ve got two weeks here with the squad pretty much this week and next week and anyone I feel has earned it through performance or energy or training level will stay on,” he said.
