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Ioane won't make same mistake
- Wayne Smith
- From: The Australian
- August 26, 2010 12:00AM
DIGBY Ioane, James Horwill, Wycliff Palu and Will Chambers have given themselves no chance of beating injury for the tour to Hong Kong and Europe.
There is a cavalry column coming over the hill, albeit somewhat depleted in strength, with Benn Alexander, Stephen Hoiles, Phil Waugh, Al Baxter and Rod Davies yesterday declaring they will be fully fit by the time the tour starts in late October.
However, it is too early to tell whether Waratahs hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau, who soldiered through the Super 14 with an unstable shoulder and bone spurs in his ankle before succumbing to surgery last month, will be ready.
Second-rower Horwill insisted he was progressing well from his knee reconstruction but conceded the tour might be a bridge too far.
"It was always an aim to be back in time for the tour but I wouldn't be 100 per cent by then," he said.
Horwill's Queensland teammates Ioane and Chambers yesterday both ruled themselves out of the tour to give themselves the chance to complete their recovery from shoulder reconstruction surgery. "I don't want to make the same mistake I did last year when I came back too early from injury," Ioane said.
Former Melbourne Storm NRL star Chambers might be uncapped but it was for that very reason selectors were keen for him to take part in the northern hemisphere tour.
All indications are the 100kg, 189cm outside centre has been targeted for a key role at next year's World Cup, providing the Wallabies with a real physical presence out wide.
But there now are only 11 Tests before the World Cup and with Chambers not able to be considered for seven of them, selectors will have to pitch him headlong into next year's Tri-Nations if they are to have any hope of bringing him up to speed in time.
There is some good news, however, with Test tighthead Alexander (torn medial ligament) intending to turn out for Eastwood within a fortnight, while his Brumbies captain Hoiles estimates he is only a month away from a full recovery from his achilles injury. As worrying as their respective neck and knee injuries have been, the main concern for Waratahs veterans Al Baxter and Phil Waugh is whether they still figure in coach Robbie Deans' World Cup plans.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news...-1225910119025