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Rookie hooker called into Wallabies camp after training run injury

(Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

The Wallabies have rushed rookie hooker Billy Pollard to Argentina ahead of their Rugby Championship opener after Dave Porecki suffered a concussion in training.

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Porecki will be unavailable for the first Test against the Pumas in Mendoza on Sunday (AEST) but could play in their second match in San Juan a week later.

It’s a blow for the Australians with Waratahs rake Porecki a breakout star during their series loss to England last month, starting in all three Tests.

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It follows shattering news that Wallabies star Samu Kerevi will require a knee reconstruction after sustaining an injury while on Commonwealth Games duty with the Sevens team.

Brumbies hooker Pollard, 20, caught the eye of Wallabies coach Dave Rennie despite playing only eight Super Rugby matches since making his debut in 2021.

He won selection in the Australia A program and was preferred over Feleti Kaitu’u and Matt Faessler to start against Samoa and Tonga.

The absence of Porecki means Folau Fainga’a is likely to wear the No.2 jersey with Lachlan Lonergan coming onto the bench.

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Rennie is set to announce his team to face Michael Cheika’s men overnight Thursday.

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Richard 868 days ago

I've never known a team to get as many training injuries as the Wallabies under Rennie. Why?

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Tom 4 hours ago
Will Bristol's daredevil 'Bears-ball' deliver the trophy they crave?

Also a Bristol fan and echo your sentiments.


I love watching Bristol but their approach will only get them so far I think. Exeter played like this when they first got promoted to the prem and had intermittent success, it wasn't until they wised up and played a more balanced game that they became a consistently top side.


I really want Bristol to continue playing this brand of rugby and I don't mind them running it from under their posts but I don't think they need to do it every single time. They need to be just a little bit more selective about when and where on the pitch they play. Every game they put themselves under so much needless pressure by turning the ball over under their posts trying to do kamikaze moves when it's not required. By all means run it from your goal line if there is a chance for a counter attack, we all want to see Bristol running in 100m tries from under their posts but I think until they learn when to do it and when to be pragmatic, they are unlikely to win the premiership.


Defense has been a real positive from Bristol, they've shown a lot of improvement there... And I will say that I think this kamikaze strategy they employ is a very good one for a struggling side and could be employed by Newcastle. It's seems to have turned around Gloucester's fortunes. The big advantage is even if you don't have the biggest and best players, what you have is cohesion. This is why Scotland keep battering England. England have better individuals but they look muddled as a team, trying to play a mixed strategy under coaches who lack charisma, the team has no identity. Scotland come out and give it full throttle from 1-15 even if they struggle against the top sides, sides like England and Wales who lack that identity drown under the relentless will and synergy of the Scots. If Newcastle did the same they could really surprise some people, I know the weather is bad up there but it hasn't bothered the Scots. Bristol can learn from Scotland too, Pat is on to something when he says the following but Scotland don't play test matches like headless chickens. They still play with the same level of clarity and ambition Bristol do but they are much better at picking their moments. They needed to go back to this mad game to get their cohesion back after a couple of seasons struggling but I hope they get a bit wiser from matches like Leinster and La Rochelle.


“If there’s clarity on what you’re trying to do as a team you can win anything.”

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