A difficult trip to the Principality Stadium just got tougher for Australia after it was confirmed a foot injury has ruled captain Michael Hooper out of Saturday's Test clash against Wales.
The back-row star came off injured in the 55th minute of Australia's 32-15 defeat to England at Twickenham and was replaced by Pete Samu.
The Wallabies will sign off their November tour with a showdown against Six Nations titleholders Wales, who surged late to just about beat an ill-disciplined Fiji 38-23 on Sunday.
Hooper, 30, has started for Australia in all but six of his 118 caps to date and is the most experienced member of Dave Rennie's squad, not to mention the fourth-most capped Wallaby of all time.
The Waratahs veteran—who returns to the Super Rugby club in 2022 after a season in Japan—has played in Australia's past 20 games and hasn't missed a Test fixture since they faced Georgia in the pool stage of the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
The Wallabies confirmed Hooper's injury blow via social media: "Scans have confirmed skipper Michael Hooper has a midfoot sprain which will rule him out of Saturday’s Test against Wales.
"Speedy recovery Hoops!"
The openside flanker will remain with the squad for their autumn send-off fixture in Cardiff before travelling home with the rest of his team-mates on Sunday.
Hooper was one of four players shortlisted for World Rugby's Player of the Year award on Monday alongside team-mate Samu Kerevi, as well as England star Maro Itoje and France scrum-half Antoine Dupont.
Loosehead prop James Slipper—the second-most experienced member of the squad on 113 caps—will captain the team against Wales in Hooper's absence.
The Brumbies front-rower captained Australia once before when they faced the United States in Chicago in 2015, but the stakes will be a lot higher against Wayne Pivac's side on Saturday.
Do you think Wales will get the better of Australia in their final autumn fixture? Let us know in the comments section.
While the Wallabies will be disappointed to lose such an influential presence—particularly at the breakdown—stand-in fly-half James O'Connor told reporters of the positive reaction to Slipper's promotion.
“It’s obviously devastating losing our skipper Hoops but the boys are very excited [for Slipper], there was a big roar when we heard Slips would be captain,” O’Connor said on Tuesday.
“He’s one of our leaders in the leadership group. He’s been there and done that and everyone can rely on him. He’s got a very steady presence.
"It's credit to the hard work that he's put in and how much he leaves it all out there."
Wales are dealing with an injury crisis of their own ahead of their final autumn outing, with winger Josh Adams, lock Will Rowlands and props Tomas Francis and WillGriff John in doubt as things stand.
They earlier lost their own captain, Alun Wyn Jones, to a shoulder injury, while Ross Moriarty, Ken Owens, Taulupe Faletau, George North, Leigh Halfpenny, Justin Tipuric and Josh Navidi are also sidelined.
Australia are targeting a swift response following their defeat to the Red Rose, where the Wallabies rarely threatened to score and had two players sin-binned.
Wales may be coming off the back of victory over Fiji but will be seeking a response of their own having trailed for much of that game despite playing most of the match with at least a one-man advantage.
