Injured Wallaby sent home early

From correspondents in Cardiff, Wales
November 27, 2008 AUSTRALIA have lost a third player from their spring tour of Europe, with Wycliff Palu sent back to Australia with a recurrence of a shoulder injury.

The destructive backrower sustained damage to cartilage and ligaments in his shoulder during the second half of last Saturday's 18-13 win over France in Paris.
Palu had already been ruled out of Australia's final two matches due to the injury before Wallabies coach Robbie Deans made the call on Wednesday to send him home for treatment.

"His shoulder hasn't responded to treatment over the last two days and it became clear that he wouldn't be available for either the Test against Wales (on Saturday) or the tour-ending game against the Barbarians," Deans said.

"That being the case, the best thing for Cliff was to head home early to seek further treatment."

Palu will undergo further scans after arriving in Sydney on Friday night.
While disappointed his tour had been cut short, Palu said he was looking forward to getting home and getting the injury attended to.

"It's obviously not the way I wanted to end, but the key thing now is to get it sorted out so it doesn't cause any problems in the future," he said.
Palu said, injury aside, his 2008 season had its share of highs.

"Between making the Super 14 final with the (NSW) Waratahs and some of the wins we've had with the Wallabies, it's been a good year and one that I will look back on pretty positively," he said.

Palu has added 11 Test caps to his career tally this season, taking him to 28 in total.

He played three Tests on the spring tour, despite having a delayed start due to a medial ligament strain he sustained in the Tri Nations decider against the All Blacks in Brisbane.

"It's been a good tour," Palu said. "The squad has been really tight and we've enjoyed each other's company away from the field while playing some pretty good rugby on it."

Centres Timana Tahu (hamstring) and Berrick Barnes (knee) were sent home two weeks ago after being injured against Italy in Padova.


http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,...-23217,00.html