Wallabies battered and bruised

14 Aug, 2005 08:23 PM2 mins to read

George Gregan spent some time off the field with a bleeding nose. Picture / Reuters

The Australian casualty list on the field ...

The Wallabies backline took a hammering at the hands of the All Black defence.

At one stage the already benched George Gregan had to come on for replacement Elton Flatley, forcing halfback Chris Whitaker into first five-eighths. When asked at a press conference afterwards to detail his team's injury count, coach Eddie Jones quipped: "I don't know if we have enough time, mate."

* Matt Giteau: lower back, doubtful for Perth test against South Africa on Saturday.

* Elton Flatley: shoulder, possible starter.

* Morgan Turinui: shoulder, possible starter.

* Jeremy Paul: shoulder, doubtful.

The Wallabies now face South Africa in Perth on Saturday and to complicate selection even further they still have injury clouds over key players such as first five-eighths Stephen Larkham and fullbacks Chris Latham and Mat Rogers.

... and off the field

The news was all black in Australian sports pages yesterday.

"Blacklash hits where it hurts," headlined the Sunday Telegraph in Sydney, while the Sun-Herald blared: "It's all gone black for another year".

Telegraph writer Peter Jenkins said the Wallabies had lost the Bledisloe Cup for another year and were now facing calls to overhaul their side if the World Cup was to remain a realistic dream in two years' time.

" If they [All Blacks] had grabbed every opportunity they created in a series of wide blitzkriegs, the scoreline could have reached embarrassing proportions," he wrote.

As it was, it was Australia's heaviest defeat at home since the All Blacks beat them 50-21 two years ago.

The Sun-Herald featured a photo of All Blacks' No 8 Rodney So'oialo with an arm around Wallabies lock Nathan Sharpe's throat, over a headline of "All Blacks take stranglehold on cup".

Writer Ben Kimber said the Wallabies had gone down to a superior All Blacks team, leaving their chances of regaining the Tri-Nations trophy "highly unlikely".