AUSTRALIA HAVE BEEN dealt with a double injury blow after Will Skelton and Wycliff Palu were ruled out of the rest of the World Cup.
140kg second row Skelton suffered a pectoral injury during the 65-3 defeat of Uruguay on Sunday, while Palu’s hamstring injury looks to have brought an end to his Wallabies’ career after 57 caps.
With Palu moving to Japan after the World Cup, the 33-year-old is three games short of the 60 cap threshold imposed by Australia for foreign based players to be eligible for test selection.
In their place, head coach Michael Cheika has called up 26-year-old Sam Carter as a direct replacement for Skelton, while number 8 Palu has been replaced by a hooker, James Hanson.
After bringing just two hookers to the tournament originally, Cheika now looks content to keep David Pocock at number 8 after his impressive form, and is instead bolstering his front row options ahead of the crunch games against England and Wales in the coming weekends.
Cheika said that it’s a big blow to lose the strength of Skelton and the experience of Palu.
“Very few players have the opportunity to play for the Wallabies, let alone at a Rugby World Cup, so from that perspective I’m really gutted for them.
“From a team perspective, they both play important roles in the side and it is disappointing that we need to replace players in our squad.
“Both James and Sam have been part of the team at various stages this season and I am confident they will be able to step up and grasp the opportunity they have been given,” he said.
Elsewhere Scotland head coach Vern Cotter has also been forced into making a call-up after second row Grant Gilchrist was ruled out with a groin injury.
London Irish flanker Blair Cowan has been drafted into the squad. The 29-year-old was a surprise absentee from Cotter’s final 31-man squad, having been a regular fixture in the side since making his debut in 2014
Cowan featured in all of Scotland’s 2015 Six Nations games, and went on to score his first test try during the warm-up game against Ireland at the Aviva Stadium in August.
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