Injury blow: Will Genia
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Will Genia will miss the remainder of the Rugby Championship and will be sidelined for at least six months after rupturing the ACL in his right knee.
Genia's injury follows that of regular captain James Horwill (hamstring) and the man who replaced him, David Pocock (knee), who were both already ruled out for the rest of the series.
The scrum-half, who underwent scans on Sunday at a Perth hospital, will be replaced for the match against Argentina on the Gold Coast next Saturday by veteran half-back Brett Sheehan.
"I took the high ball, it twisted and I heard a few cracks," Genia recalled after the 26-19 victory.
Nathan Sharpe is set to assume the captaincy.
Comments
georgesmith says...
Major blow for Wallabies. Who will save R. Deans now? W. Genia is quality captain but D. Pocock is not. Wallabies selectors need to look at the future and not the past.
S. Higginbottom, Q. Coopper, D. Ioane, A.A Cooper, B. Robinson or B. Alexander can be captain but not N.Sharpe.
Posted 11:56 09th September 2012
hobo says...
agree with melkdave
his head isnt in the right place atm as is evidenced by his lazy walking back onside after getting charged down and his instant attack on Rod Kafer post match when he got very defensive at a flip of the switch. He needs time off and captaincy is not for him.
Posted 11:46 09th September 2012
Craig says...
Gutted for him, and for Aussie rugby, and for SH rugby. Genia's a legend and the RC isn't right without him.
And depth has always been Aussie rugby's problem. THis year (and the workd cup) has been horrendous for them.
Which leads to the obvious question: why? I noticed mid-way through the first half on Saturday, Aust had good phase ball, were on about their 8th phase. ANd Genia got to the back of a ruck quickly, looked around, and all the forwards not in the ruck were behind him, hands on knees, blowing pretty hard. Had just finished watching ABs/Arg match, and neither team showed that. Esp not in first half. Are Aust aerobically fit enough? Just a thought...
And again, condolences Genia and Aust rugby fans. Crap luck guys.
Posted 11:04 09th September 2012
ABlack says...
Bugger! for Aussie team anyway and such a great player and all round good bloke. They are going to miss him as he is the best 9 in world rugby.
Posted 11:04 09th September 2012
melkdave says...
What shame a worldclass player out for so long,certainally going to hurt the wallabies short term,but i maybe controversaly feel it will benifit Gemia for the 2013 seasonI dont think his been at his best this season ,so maybe this enforced break will give him the oppotunatly to recharge his batteries ,and woirk on his skillset and ,pace,ready for the Lions.
Posted 10:23 09th September 2012
kpe12 says...
Horrible news.
This will take the edge off an already beaten up Australian team.
Posted 10:18 09th September 2012
Ramage says...
This is extremely bad luck for a very exciting and skillful player. It will also be a bad blow for the OZ team as he is not only their best player but their captain. Just as OZ near getting a couple of good players back in Mc Cabe and O'Connor they lose another top player. Its almost one step forward and two steps back. Hmm who are you picking to be Captain georgesmith?
Posted 10:16 09th September 2012