Bret Harris | August 11, 2009

Article from: The Australian

WALLABIES captain Stirling Mortlock may have played his last Test in Australia if he requires surgery to repair the knee he injured in the disappointing 27-19 loss to South Africa in Cape Town on Sunday.

Mortlock arrived home on crutches yesterday and will have an MRI scan today to assess the injury, believed to be cartilage damage.

If Mortlock needs an operation, he could miss the remainder of the Tri-Nations tournament.

Mortlock, 30, will decide before the end of the year whether to try to play on to the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand or continue his career in Europe or Japan.
If he chose Europe he would probably leave Australia at the end of next year's domestic international schedule, but a move to Japan would probably be at the end of this year.

"All things being considered it's not too bad at this stage, but my gut feeling is I'll be seeing a specialist and going from there," Mortlock said.
"You know in yourself when it doesn't feel right and it didn't feel right. It's really hard to tell. You don't know with these things. Fingers crossed."
In the absence of Mortlock, Adam Ashley-Cooper is expected to start at outside centre with James O'Connor promoted to fullback for the make-or-break Test against the All Blacks in Sydney in two weeks.

Rocky Elsom, sidelined since the end of May with a bruised kneebone, will be rushed back to start at blindside flanker, with Richard Brown or Wycliff Palu dropping to the reserves bench.

Peter Hynes is likely to displace Lachlan Turner from the right wing, while Dean Mumm will challenge Nathan Sharpe for a second-row spot.
Coach Robbie Deans suggested there could be further changes if the players did not improve their discipline.

Poor discipline has been costly in the Wallabies' losses to the All Blacks and Springboks, and Deans warned it would not be tolerated.

"That's the second instance of that. Until we get that right we are not going to prevail in this competition because you just don't get given results when you are playing against the All Blacks and the Springboks," Deans said.

"We are still getting those dumb penalties and they bite you and there wasn't a lot in it in the end.

"Clearly, if you keep going back to that trough and you can't address that habit, there is only one other way of addressing it. You have to remove those who are drinking from that trough."

Deans accused the Wallabies of "freezing" in the lineout, conceding nine of their own throws to the Springboks. "At times it was good, but we essentially froze. That's what pressure does to you," Deans said.

"They (South Africa) are a capable lineout and they create doubts in your own mind through their presence and their history of performance in that area. You've got the two best locks in the world (Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha) and also height at the back in (Pierre) Spies.

"That just adds a bit of pressure, but the key is to master ourselves before we master our circumstances. A lot of it was our own thinking.

"Until we master that, we won't give ourselves a decent opportunity to master our opponent. There are two key areas where we came up short. One was discipline and the other was lineout. In the rest of the game we actually outperformed them. If we master that area, it's evident we are not far away."


http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...015651,00.html