Thumb injury ends Coleman's tour
Lock Adam Coleman will play no further part in the Wallabies' northern hemisphere tour after his thumb injury forced a late withdrawal from Saturday's clash with England.
Coleman had been declared available for the Twickenham clash after training this week, however he failed a fitness test prior to kick-off and was replaced by Blake Enever.
And the 26-year-old declared his tour over in a pre-match interview, confirming he would return home to undergo surgery to correct the problem.
"Cheik [coach Michael Cheika] wanted to give me every chance to play but unfortunately I couldn't get across the line so I'm heading back on the bird back to Sydney to get an operation on Monday," he told beIN SPORTS.
"Unfortunately [my tour is over].
"Last year I wasn't able to finish the tour either, not to be. Hopefully I will be back next year and good to go."
As well as missing the England game, Coleman will also be absent from the final leg of Australia's tour against Scotland at Murrayfield next weekend.
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It might be legal but he’s sailing pretty close to the wind. Not a lot needs to go wrong for Finau to end up in the bin. Was it late? Not quite, but borderline. High? A couple of CM within the laws, no room for error with that one. Did he wrap the arms? There was a token effort to wrap one arm, the intent was clearly to hit with the shoulder. So yeah, it’s legal, just. But as we all know, a very slight change in the dynamics could easily have him seeing red. Hopefully not when it really matters.
Go to commentsYou forget this is Rassie Erasmus who is still holding the Springbok keys. Even with Felix Jones orchestrating a really tight RWC SF last year. It still wasn't enough to get England past their particular Springbok Monkey in world cups. The reason is FJ was going off of what they did in 2019 not necessarily adapting to current Springboks. So yes, Australia can get passed England because let's be honest, England have a one track strategy, Springboks do not. Even with rush defense I wouldn't be surprised if Rassie continually tweaks it. Also bear in mind Rassie is happy to sacrifice a few mid year and inter World Cup matches to pin point how opposition plays and how to again tweak strategies to get his Springboks in peak performance for the next World Cup. As much as most teams like to win games in front of them and try to win everything, Rassie always makes sure to learn and train for the greatest showdown International Rugby has to offer. Tbh, most people remember World Cup wins and ignore intermediate losses as a result but will remember also WC losses, Ireland, even if they won games in the interim. So even if games are won against the Springboks, it's likely Rassie is just getting a feel for how opposition is moving and adapt accordingly…in time. For Rassie, a loss is never a loss because he uses it as a chance to learn and improve. Sometimes during a game, again like the England match in last year's Semi Final.
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