Injured Nathan Sharpe force out of Baa-Baas Wembley clash
Injured Nathan Sharpe force out of Baa-Baas Wembley clash
By Wayne Smith
December 02, 2008 FORMER Australia captain Nathan Sharpe will join current skipper Stirling Mortlock on the Wembley sidelines for their tour-ending Barbarians match after it was revealed he played the entire Wales Test with a broken thumb.
Coach Robbie Deans revealed he had wanted to rest Sharpe for the Cardiff Test because of the injury but the veteran second-rower, realising how thin the Wallabies' depth has become with Dan Vickerman, James Horwill and Rocky Elsom all missing this tour, refused to stand down.
"He was insistent," Deans said of Sharpe.
"It was my preference not to play him but the medical advice was that it (the break) was in a position such that it wouldn't displace. He had it strapped but to back up (against the Barbarians) would be pushing it too far, considering it's not a Test match."
Even if it were a Test match, there would be no way Mortlock would be risked, not after his sickening head clash with Welsh centre Jamie Roberts in the second minute at Millennium Stadium. Initially, it appeared Mortlock had fared the worse in the collision but X-rays later revealed Roberts fractured his skull, which made the fact he soldiered on for another quarter of an hour all the more remarkable.
Winger Peter Hynes, who was substituted after half-an-hour against Wales following an accidental finger in his eye, could have played against the Barbarians but he has started every Test this season bar the one against Italy and Deans has decided not to ask anything more of him in 2008.
With Berrick Barnes, Timana Tahu and Wycliff Palu already sent home for treatment on major injuries and wear and tear starting to take its toll at the end of their longest tour of the professional era, the Wallabies will have to dig deep as they back up against a virtual World XV just four days after playing arguably their most brutal Test of the year.
"Anyone that is fit is considered," Deans said, explaining his selection "philosophy".
Hopefully, that will include playmaker Matt Giteau who looked the worse for wear on Sunday after repeatedly having to run the ball into the thick of the Welsh defence on Saturday.
The good news, however, is that back-up lock Peter Kimlin of the Brumbies and Brett Sheehan of the Waratahs, the squad's third-string half-back, will both be given their first game time of the tour.
For the past month, the two players have been uncomplaining tackle bags for the Wallabies in training, literally so in Kimlin's case.
The towering ACT forward lost a tooth in an accidental knock in training in Cardiff but merely rinsed out his mouth and resumed lineout drills, making so little fuss of it that most of his team-mates weren't even aware of the mishap.
"Kimlin will have a jersey, which he's pretty excited about," Deans said. "Brett also will have a jersey on. We'll wait and see what numbers."
Tempting as it must be to give rising young stars such as Western Force pair James O'Connor and David Pocock run-on roles, Deans isn't prepared to treat this match, scheduled by the 2012 London Olympic organisers to commemorate the centenary of the Wallabies' gold medal victory in rugby at the 1908 Olympics, as an exhibition game.
"Obviously we're wearing the jumper, we're wearing the jersey and to that end it's important to the individuals but the reality is that it's not a Test match, so the shackles will be off to some extent," Deans said.
"It's a genuinely tricky situation because you're representing your country and you're representing yourself and you're up against a World XV that is uninhibited and probably pretty excited about expressing themselves. So it's not easy but having said that, it's still a great opportunity."
There is so much individual talent in the Barbarians squad - Richie McCaw, Bryan Habana, Schalk Burger, Chris Jack, George Gregan, Fourie du Preez, Joe Rokocoko, to name just a few - that the Wallabies would be crazy to throw the ball around willy-nilly. Their only hope of staying with the power-packed Barbarians side is to fully exploit the teamwork that they have developed on their six-week tour.
"That's what we're going to have to use against them," five-eighth Quade Cooper said.
"They've got some good individuals but obviously they've been together for less than a week. We've been together for a while now. So we can use that as best we can and play very much a team game against the individual game."
http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,...-23217,00.html
