LONDON – Wallabies’ duo Will Skelton and Wycliff Palu have been ruled out of the rest of the Rugby World Cup as Australia prepares to play England in a crucial Pool A match at Twickenham on Saturday.
Palu had a hamstring concern before Australia’s match against Uruguay and it has worsened while Skelton has suffered a shoulder injury. Both players will return to Australia for treatment immediately and have been replaced by hooker James Hansen and lock Sam Carter.
The loss is a huge blow to the Wallabies’ firepower as they now face the rest of their pool games without their barnstorming runners.
Carter, one of the players who missed out on the original 31-man squad due to a knee injury, is now back to full fitness and signed a deal to play for Bordeaux Begles on a four game deal. Meanwhile, Hansen’s inclusion means that Australia now has three specialist hookers in the squad with captain Stephen Moore and Tatafu Polota-Nau the others.
The injuries continue a horror run of injuries for teams in Pool A with Wales’ notorious injury run as well as England’s loss of blockbusting no.8 Billy Vunipola.