Australia were dealt a blow ahead of Saturday’s Bledisloe Cup clash with New Zealand in Sydney with the news that replacement prop Taniela Tupou has been ruled out with a hamstring injury.
Tupou suffered the injury at Friday’s captain’s run less than 36 hours before kick-off in the Rugby Championship opener, according to a News Corp report on Saturday.
The prop confirmed he would be missing the match via his public Facebook page.
The 22-year-old’s absence would be a major blow for the Wallabies, with Tupou a force for Australia against Ireland in June.
The Wallabies rely heavily on his impact off the bench and Saturday’s match would have been his first chance to go head-to-head with the All Blacks pack.
It is unclear how serious the injury may be, but the Wallabies will be hoping the damaging prop is cleared for the second Test in Auckland next week.
Rebels tighthead Jermaine Ainsley was kitted up as 24th man on Friday and will step into the matchday 23 as Tupou’s replacement.
Tupou’s injury is the second major front-row absence for the Australian side after regular loosehead Scott Sio was ruled out with a shoulder injury.
Australia (revised): 15 Israel Folau, 14 Dane Haylett-Petty, 13 Reece Hodge, 12 Kurtley Beale, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Will Genia, 8 David Pocock, 7 Michael Hooper (c), 6 Lukhan Tui, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Izack Rodda, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Tom Robertson
Replacements: 16 Tolu Latu, 17 Allan Alaalatoa, 18 Jermaine Ainsley, 19 Rob Simmons, 20 Pete Samu, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Matt Toomua, 23 Jack Maddocks
Date: Saturday, August 18
Venue: ANZ Stadium, Sydney
Kick-off: 19:45 local (10:45 BST, 09:45 GMT)
Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Wayne Barnes (England), Luke Pearce (England)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
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