Tate McDermott is poised to start at halfback after returning from a concussion he picked up against Georgia in Australia’s first game.
Meanwhile,Max Jorgensen’s Rugby World Cup is over after picking up an ankle injury that will force Australia to bring in an emergency replacement for the remainder of the tournament in France.
Max Jorgensen during a Wallabies training session in Saint-Etienne.Credit:Getty
The Wallabies trained on Wednesday ahead of their must-win match against Wales on Sunday (Monday 5am AEST) when news filtered through of an injury to Jorgensen,who is yet to play a Test for his country.
After coming off a long-term knee injury,Jorgensen,19,was the bolter in Eddie Jones’ Wallabies squad and would have been eyeing a Test debut against Portugal in Saint-Etienne next week.
This masthead revealed Jorgensen suffered a serious ankle injury at a behind-closed-doors training session.
Jorgensen went up to catch a high ball and landed badly. The teenager was taken for scans,which revealed a fractured fibula. Jorgensen is poised to return to Australia to see a specialist and begin rehabilitation.
The Wallabies confirmed the news on Wednesday afternoon (French time) just hours after the training session.
“Firstly,we’re all feeling for Max,” Jones said in a statement. “He’s a good young man who has a massive future ahead of him in the gold jersey. He’s worked really hard to come back from a serious knee injury and was training exceptionally well to put his hand up for selection.
“We wish him a speedy and successful recovery and look forward to seeing him out on the field as soon as possible.”
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Jorgensen will be replaced in the Wallabies squad by a player from the Barbarians,who are also in camp.
The Wallabies said the replacement would be announced in due course,with Waratahs teammate Dylan Pietsch initially the frontrunner to arrive in France.
However,after thinking he’d be going into Wallabies camp,Pietsch was then told that he might not be required.
The Barbarians invitational side are playing matches throughout the UK and Ireland concurrently with the World Cup. There are a number of Australian players in the team that the Wallabies could call on to cross the English Channel.
World Cup rules state that if a player is removed from a country’s 33-man squad,they cannot return later in the tournament.
The Wallabies have been hit hard by injuries,with captain Will Skelton (calf) and prop Taniela Tupou (hamstring) both ruled out of the Wales fixture in Lyon.
Australia must beat Wales to have a chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals.
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