The Australia centre Matt Toomua will miss the remaining two matches of his team’s European tour because of a hamstring injury, their coach Ewen McKenzie confirmed on Wednesday.
He will be replaced in the squad later this week by NSW Waratahs winger Peter Betham, who won his first cap in the third Bledisloe Cup Test against New Zealand in October.
Medical tests showed that Toomua had suffered a hamstring strain following training, and that was enough to rule him out of the two remaining tour games – against Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday and Wales at the Millennium Stadium the following week.
McKenzie said it was a disappointing blow for the 23-year-old playmaker, who had been outstanding in his debut Test season, earning 10 caps and securing his role at centre in the starting line-up for the opening three games of the tour.
“Matt has had a fantastic season and has done a terrific job for the Qantas Wallabies in a new position,” McKenzie said.
“It’s extremely disappointing to lose him at this point and not have him available for our final two games.
“However, he’s shown all the positive attributes we want in our players and are looking forward to seeing him use his international experience to continue his development during the Super Rugby competition next year.”
The loss comes a day after fellow centre Tevita Kuridrani received a five-week suspension for an alleged dangerous tackle in the match with Ireland.
Adding to Australian woes is the fact that five other players will be unavailable for selection in Edinburgh as they are serving a one-match suspension for indulging in a drinking session before the Ireland game last weekend.
Meyer bringing back top performers for South Africa
Heyneke Meyer, the South Africa coach, has gone back to his core group of players for his side’s final game of the season, against France in Paris on Saturday.
The Springboks have won nine of their 11 Test matches this year, and after some experimentation in a victory over Scotland last weekend Meyer has brought back his top performers from 2013.
The prop Tendai Mtawarira, the hooker Bismarck du Plessis, the lock Eben Etzebeth and the fly-half Morne Steyn return to the line-up for what should be a stiffer examination than the comfortable victory against Scotland on Sunday, which they claimed 28-0.
Meyer said he has rotated the squad on their European tour to keep the players fresh and hopes that will pay off on Saturday. He said Gurthro Steenkamp, Adriaan Strauss, Bakkies Botha and Pat Lambie did very well last week against Scotland and “will have an important role to play this week”.
“We have been quite fortunate with injuries this year and I’m very happy that we’ve managed to keep the continuity in selection,” he said.
sports@thenational.ae
Follow us on twitter at @SprtNationalUAE
