Larkham ruled out of quarter-finals

STEPHEN LARKHAM will miss Australia’s World Cup quarter-final against either England or Tonga after he was forced to undergo a second knee operation in the space of eight days.

The 33-year-old star fly-half had an arthroscopy on September 16 to remove a floating bone fragment which was causing his right knee to lock up.

Larkham had been hoping to make an appearance off the bench against minnows Canada this weekend as preparation for Australia’s quarter-final clash.

But he returned to hospital on Monday night for a second operation after his knee became infected and is not expected to be fit until at least the semi-final stage.

“Stephen woke up with some pain and swelling yesterday and had another procedure overnight to clean out his knee,” said Wallabies coach John Connolly.

“It’s a big setback for Stephen as he’s now definitely out of this week’s match and the quarter-final.

“I’ve spoken to the medical staff and they really can’t say when he’ll be fit to play.

“We know we won’t have him for the quarter-final but if all goes well he may be available the following week.”

Larkham has been replaced in the Wallabies side by Queensland Test rookie Berrick Barnes, and the 21-year-old is likely to keep the fly-half jersey for the quarter-final.

“You would have to say Berrick would be favourite to start at this stage, but we do have a couple of options so we’ll sit down and discuss that after the game on Saturday,” said Connolly.

“It’s a big ask for a 21-year-old but Berrick did an outstanding job against Wales in a pressure situation a fortnight ago.”