Wallabies’ back Jordan Petaia has been ruled out of next week’s match against Samoa due to a hamstring injury.
The 19-year-old suffered the injury during
a training ground tackling drill while on the side’s 10-day camp in Noumea and
although it is thought that the injury is not serious it is a set-back in the Wallabies’
World Cup preparations.
Petaia is still uncapped at international
level and was set to make his debut against Samoa it was believed. He was supposed
to make his debut last November against Italy when injury once again prevented
him from turning out.
He also missed the majority of the Super
Rugby season with the Queensland Reds due to a foot injury he sustained early in
the campaign. However, Australian head coach Michael Cheika has decided despite
his lack of game time in the past year he could bring an x-factor to the
back-line that could benefit the team in Japan.
It is thought that Petaia will re-join the squad
in the coming days after flying home yesterday for further treatment on the
injury.
The game next Saturday will be the Wallabies final warm-up game before jetting off to Japan where they face a tough pool that contains the likes of Wales and Fiji and it in Japan that Petaia now seems destined to make his debut.
