Struggling Wallabies rocked by double injury blow

AUSTRALIA’S hopes of climbing back into Tri Nations contention have been dealt a crushing blow with second-rower Nathan Sharpe and classy centre Berrick Barnes ruled out of Saturday night’s Test against South Africa in Perth.

Sharpe has failed to overcome a shoulder injury sustained in the loss to New Zealand last Saturday, while Barnes is still suffering concussion after taking a heavy knock in the one-point loss.

Bottom of the Tri Nations table after three losses, the Wallabies’ odds of upsetting the Springboks have lengthened considerably following the loss of two key players.

Sharpe is regarded as one of the world’s best lineout exponents, while Barnes’ kicking game and composure in the midfield will be sorely missed. Wallabies coach Robbie Deans is yet to make an announcement on replacements.

There was some good news from the Australia camp, with rugged flanker Rocky Elsom and young full-back James O’Connor both showing signs of improvements after picking up injuries against the All Blacks.

Deans is confident Elsom (ankle) and O’Connor (leg) will be fit to face the Springboks at Subiaco Oval.

“Rocky’s still in consideration. He picked up a bit of an ankle complaint, but it doesn’t seem too bad,” Deans said.

“He has started moving and is still a prospect. It will be good to have him there and it was good to have him back last week where he did remarkably well in his first outing. He made a difference to the lineout and likes the contest in all areas.

“(O’Connor) ran a lot this morning at a reasonable sort of tempo, so he’s looking promising. We expect him to be available.”

Sharpe is a big loss particularly at the lineout, but Mark Chisholm will likely take over calling the plays on his return from injury and Deans is confident he and Dean Mumm can perform well.

“We are fortunate to have a player like Mark Chisholm become available to us again. He’s been out for a significant period of time with injury, but has had a couple of club games and is back in consideration as well. That timing is fortunate for us really.

“Mummy is pretty quick on detail and has been with us for a while now. This is his second season with the Wallabies and, while he hasn’t had that much game time, he has been around the group and understands the detail pretty well. It’s good to have him there.”

Barnes’ neck does not appear to be an injury concern going forward, but he is still suffering some after-effects from his concussion suffered against the All Blacks. Deans and his medical staff made the early call to leave him out, and the coach is confident whoever replaces him will do well.

The kicking of the Springboks is the major reason they are on top of the Tri-Nations table at present, but Deans is confident his team can try some different things to offset that this week.

“Where the Springboks have been really effective is their kicking game has been remarkably accurate, and they’ve been able to bring a lot of pressure to bear through isolating players,” he said.

“We are getting better at dealing with that and have made significant strides since the first outing at Eden Park. We are confident that we will be much better at coping with that strategy and it’s about our personnel understanding their roles.

“To beat them we have to try to force them to play a different way and then force them into error.”