0
Western Force No 8 Richard Brown sidelined for NZ tour
Article from: PerthNow
Nick Taylor
March 02, 2009 04:05pm
WESTERN Force No 8 Richard Brown has been ruled out of the side's two-game tour of New Zealand with a shoulder injury.
The versatile David Pusey, who can play blindside flank or second row, joined the 23-man squad in Sydney in preparation for the clashes against the Chiefs and Crusaders.
Pusey joined the Force squad in Coogee today and had been due to remain in Sydney to play with the Southern Districts club in a pre-season trial in the local competition.
Brown, 24, who has been in fine form in the opening three rounds of the season will fly back to Perth tomorrow after spraining his left shoulder in the 25-16 win over the Brumbies in Canberra on Saturday night.
Brown injured the shoulder scoring one of his side's four tries.
Force doctor Mark de Cruz hoped Brown would be fit for the round six clash against the Sharks at Subiaco.
“Richard has taken a decent knock to his shoulder and is still experiencing quite a bit of soreness,” de Cruz said.
“We’ve decided to send him home to give him the best opportunity to recover ahead of our next home game against the Sharks on March 21.”
The experienced Pusey, a 50 Super cap veteran, was out of favour for long spells last year after losing his spot to Tom Hockings.
He bounced back well in the later stages of the competition and will be hoping to re-establish himself on the NZ tour.
Force squad AJ Whalley and Pat O' Connor will both play for Warringah while Ben Whittaker will join West Harbour for weekend trials in Sydney.
http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/stor....html#comments