Wallabies fly-half Christian Leali’ifano has admitted he is not sure if his body would cope with playing three matches in a row should his team make it to the Rugby World Cup final in Japan.
The Aussies take on England in the first of the quarter-finals on Saturday morning, and head coach Michael Cheika appears to have given Leali’ifano the nod to start at 10. However, cancer survivor Leali’ifano doesn’t know if he will manage with the workload should the team progress.
“It’s hard to say. As we’ve gone, it’s just been managing each game as we go and seeing how I feel day to day. I guess I’d be confident to if I was called upon but I think it’s just about coming back to a week-by-week case and seeing how they go,” he said.
The 32-year-old has shared the No 10 jersey with Bernard Foley and Matt To’omua so far in the competition as the staff look to keep him fit.
Having taken a year off in 2016 after being diagnosed with leukaemia, before returning to the sport with the Brumbies and went on to play the second most minutes of any player in Super Rugby this season, starting all 18 games for the side.
Leali’ifano has been on a different training regime than the rest of the squad in Japan to help him recover after games and if they progress fans all over the world will hope that he can play in as many matches as possible as it is what he deserves.
