Western Force flanker Matt Hodgson and NSW Waratahs winger Lachie Turner have been added to the Wallabies 30-man squad at the Rugby World Cup.
The pair are being flown to New Zealand to join the team as replacements for Drew Mitchell and Wycliff Palu respectively.
Both Mitchell and Palu have succumbed to hamstring injuries, with Mitchell straining his during yesterday’s 68-22 win over Russia which ended the pool phase.
An MRI scan this morning in Nelson confirmed that the strain Mitchell suffered yesterday will not allow him to return in time to participate again in the tournament. He is expected to be sidelined for six weeks after suffering a grade one strain to his left hamstring.
Palu departed New Zealand in similar circumstances last week but Australian team management held off naming a replacement in order to ascertain the Wallabies’ requirements heading into the elimination phase.
Turner and Hodgson were both involved with the Wallabies earlier in the year, as members of the original 40-man Australian squad, and then as part of the trimmed down squad which contested and won the Tri Nations.
The 24-year-old Turner, who made his debut against France in 2008, has played 14 Tests for the Wallabies, the most recent of which was as a replacement during last year’s stunning 59-16 win over the then-Six Nations champions France in Paris.
Hodgson is the veteran of six previous Tests, with two caps earned this year during the Tests against Samoa and South Africa in Sydney.
The 30-year-old openside flanker won the Western Force Player of the Year award consecutively in the 2009 and 2010 seasons.
The two replacements will join the Wallabies in Wellington tomorrow night.
