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Bugger of a year to be a Lock
Starting to wish we were playing the Aussie teams in the first three rounds!
Kanaar out for season
Sunday, January 21, 2007, c/o Rugby Heaven
Wallabies back-rowers Rocky Elsom and David Lyons could be forced to play in NSW's second row this season after the damaging loss of lock Al Kanaar for the Super 14 campaign.
Kanaar is expected to undergo a knee reconstruction later this week after topping a long and serious injury list following the Waratahs 12-0 trial win over the Brumbies.
Last night's pre-season opener in Wollongong was a horror affair for NSW with prop Matt Dunning and rising flanker-lock David Dennis also suffering knee ligament injuries.
While Kanaar is out of the entire competition, derailing his campaign for a World Cup berth, Dunning and Dennis are facing six to seven weeks out of the game.
With Wallabies vice-captain Dan Vickerman not expected back from shoulder surgery until April at the earliest, the loss of injury-plagued Kanaar is a cruel blow.
Coach Ewen McKenzie must now rely on youngsters Ben Hand and Dean Mumm making the huge step from club rugby to Super 14 to partner Will Caldwell.
McKenzie revealed the second-row injury curse has him eyeing flanker Elsom and No. 8 Lyons, now sidelined, as potential locks.
"We've taken a bit of a blow in that area. If it would have been in any other position we would have been able to handle it better," he said today.
"We've had a good run with injuries in the last couple of years and now it's just come home to roost."
In a cruel twist, last night's match was one-Test Wallaby Kanaar's first in nine months after injuring his ankle during last year's Super 14.
"He has worked very hard the last six months to get over an ankle situation, so he can't take a trick at the moment," McKenzie said.
The coach was well pleased with the debut of teenage flyhalf Kurtley Beale but wasn't getting carried away with his efforts, highlighted by a grubber-and-chase try with just his fifth touch of the ball.
Beale will get a better gauge of his transition to senior rugby in Thursday night's trial against the defending champion Crusaders at Aussie Stadium which will mark Lote Tuqiri's first game of the year.
The inexperienced Brumbies came out of the two-tries-to-nil loss in better shape with hooker David Palavi today cleared of serious injury.
Palavi was stretchered off the ground and taken by ambulance to Wollongong Hospital with suspected next and back injuries.
Coach Laurie Fisher was hopeful Palavi could return for the Brumbies competition opener against the Chiefs in Hamilton on February 3.
Fisher will rest Wallabies quintet George Gregan, Stephen Larkham, Stirling Mortlock, George Smith and Mark Gerrard from their final trial against the Hurricanes on Friday night.
Queensland emerged from their scrappy 31-3 trial win over an amateur Samoan outfit relatively unscathed but will be without forwards Steve Moore and Cameron Treloar for their last warm-up game.
Hooker Moore has a hamstring twinge while lock Treloar sustained a hip flexor injury in last night's win on the Gold Coast.
The Reds will be back at Carrara on Friday where they will have Wallabies Greg Holmes, Hugh McMeniman and Rodney Blake back on deck to play the Highlanders.
The Force, beaten by the Crusaders 28-12 in Melbourne on Friday night, face the Samoans on Thursday in Perth before starting their campaign with an opening-round clash with the Highlanders on February 2.
AAP
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