Wallabies suffer fresh blow ahead of Wales clash
INJURY UPDATE: Australia’s Michael Hooper has been ruled out of Saturday’s match against Wales in Cardiff with a concussion, with the flank joining an already lengthy injury list.
The back row star displayed symptoms of concussion following the Wallabies’ 10-13 loss to Ireland in Dublin last weekend and will now miss their concluding November Series international, the final match of a European tour, at the Millennium Stadium.
“Hoops is out of this weekend’s Test against @WelshRugbyUnion,” Rugby Australia said Wednesday in a post on its Twitter feed.
“He’ll head back to home soil on Thursday. See you next year Hoops.”
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#SPOTLIGHT: ‘As a squad we need to lick our wounds’ 👇#Australia #Wallabies #Wales #WALvAUS https://t.co/oMLmapvvC2
— rugby365.com (@rugby365com) November 23, 2022
His absence is a fresh blow to Australia coach Dave Rennie, with the Wallabies boss already without six players following injuries sustained in a narrow defeat in Dublin.
Andrew Kellaway, Hunter Paisami, Dave Porecki, Taniela Tupou, Rob Valetini and Nic White had already been sidelined prior to the confirmation of Hooper’s head injury.
Rennie is due to announce his side to play Wales on Thursday.
Hooper, 31, returned to Test action in last month’s tour-opening 16-15 win against Scotland in Edinburgh, with the Australia great’s previous international appearance coming in a series-deciding loss at home to England in July.
The Wallabies’ most capped skipper, withdrew on the eve of August’s Test against Argentina in Mendoza, saying he was not in the “right mindset” to lead his country.
Hooper then sat out the remainder of the Rugby Championship before being included in the squad for the tour of Europe.
🤕 Hoops is out of this weekend’s Test against @WelshRugbyUnion. He’ll head back to home soil on Thursday.
See you next year Hoops 👊🏽👊🏽#Wallabies pic.twitter.com/KQXlR9Sxhj
ADVERTISEMENT— Wallabies (@wallabies) November 23, 2022
