Australia back-row Rob Valetini has failed to recover from a calf injury to make Saturday’s first Test against the British & Irish Lions in Brisbane, according to The Roar.
The current John Eales Medal holder picked up the injury at the beginning of the Wallabies’ camp, and was unable to feature in the 21-18 victory over Fiji.
To make matters worse for Joe Schmidt, Valetini’s replacement against Fiji, Langi Gleeson, is also a major doubt to run out at the Suncorp Stadium.
Reports suggest that Schmidt may now opt to field two fetchers on either side of the back-row, which would exploit an area of weakness in the Lions game so far, which has been their ball retention at the breakdown. Andy Farrell’s side had vastly improved in this department, however, in their final warm-up match against an AUNZ Invitational XV.
Fixture
British & Irish Lions
Australia
British & Irish Lions
The Brubmies loose forward Valetini is expected to make a recovery in time to face the Lions at the MCG in the second Test.
While Schmidt’s back-row reserves may be running thin, Farrell has a contrasting problem on his hands before the first Test.
The back-row is the area of the field that has been hardest to call and predict for fans and pundits. The No.7 jersey could easily be handed to one of England’s Tom Curry, Wales’ Jac Morgan or Ireland’s Josh van der Flier, while Tadhg Beirne and Ollie Chessum appear to be the front-runners to start on the blindside.
Conan, meanwhile, will be competing with Ben Earl to start at the back of the scrum, with both excelling in the warm-ups.
With English sensation Henry Pollock also in the mix, the rugby world waits to see who Farrell names on Thursday.
