Wallabies get major boost for World Cup opener

INJURY UPDATE: Wallaby centre Samu Kerevi has been passed fit and is available for Australia’s first game in the World Cup against Georgia, the team’s scrum coach Neil Hatley said on Wednesday.

Hatley said the Fijian-born Kerevi had trained during “the whole session” on Wednesday and that coach Eddie Jones was considering him for the game against the Georgians at the Stade de France on Saturday.

“Eddie will make that final decision and we will announce the team tomorrow [Thursday] but he’s trained today [on Wednesday] and he’s available,” said Hatley.

After sitting out Tuesday’s training session in St Etienne, there were fears that Kerevi was still suffering from a hand injury he collected in Australia’s 20-23 Bledisloe Cup loss in Dunedin which kept him out of the warm-up game against France in Paris last month.

Hatley said there was “no specific reason” why he sat out training.

“He has been coming back [from injury]. He has an individual plan,” said Hatley.

“It was just to make sure that at the back end of the week he is in the best position to be able to contribute to the team if he’s called on.”

Scrumhalf Nic White also attested to Kerevi’s readiness to face the Georgians after a tough training session.

“[He] Bumped me off quite nicely,” he laughed. “He’s running through blokes. He was good today.”

After their Pool C opener against Georgia, Australia go on to play Fiji, Wales and Portugal.

#SPOTLIGHT: Eddie Jones sending Wallabies to World Cup without a ‘safe net’ https://t.co/aWdg552fyx

— rugby365.com (@rugby365com) September 6, 2023