Australia have been dealt a major blow before Sunday’s World Cup quarter-final against Scotland, with both David Pocock and Israel Folau ruled out through injury.
The Wallabies’ coach, Michael Cheika, delayed the announcement of his squad on Friday in the hope that the pair would recover but Ben McCalman has instead been brought in at No8 to replace Pocock andKurtley Beale will replace Folau at full-back.
Pocock has been magnificent for Australia at this World Cup, winning more turnovers (10) than any other player in the pool stages, despite playing in only three matches. But in Australia’s final Pool A match against Wales last weekend, the 27-year-old sustained a calf injury, while Folau broke down in training this week with an ankle complaint, a problem that has troubled the former NRL star for weeks.
Should Australia progress from their quarter-final clash, they are hopeful that both players will be fit for a semi-final against Ireland or Argentina on 25 October. Cheika, however, is not looking beyond the Scotland game and believes Sunday’s match will be tougher than the challenge they faced last weekend.
“We don’t think we are [favourites],” Cheika said. “No one was saying that about us a few months ago. By the nature of the tournament and the stage this game is at, I think this will be our toughest match.”
The match at Twickenham will be extra special for their captain, Stephen Moore, and Matt Giteau, who will earn their 100th Test caps, while Adam Ashley Cooper is set to become the third-most capped Wallaby of all time in his 112th Test, overtaking the flanker George Smith.
“Stephen and Matt are very highly respected members of our team before they ever reached the 100 Tests mark but this landmark makes all of us in the team very proud,” Cheika said. “Every opportunity in the Gold Jersey is cherished and the 100th for these lads is a great opportunity for everyone to see how much they love playing for Australia.”
“It is also a great chance for the lads playing against Scotland to improve their performance from our last game. As the tournament moves on, we must continue to get better. That’s something we really want to do and believe we have in us.”
Australia team to face Scotland
Forwards 1 Scott Sio, 2 Stephen Moore (c), 3 Sekope Kepu, 4 Kane Douglas, 5 Rob Simmons, 6 Scott Fardy, 7 Michael Hooper, 8 Ben McCalman. Backs 9 Will Genia, 10 Bernard Foley, 11 Drew Mitchell, 12 Matt Giteau, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper 15 Kurtley Beale.
Replacements 16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 James Slipper, 18 Greg Holmes, 19 Dean Mumm, 20 Sean McMahon, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Matt Toomua, 23 Quade Cooper
