Thursday’s rugby news has injury concerns for both the Lions & Wallabies, a biting allegation & new Super captains
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Healy cited over Sheehan bite
After initially looking like there would not be any issue, it now appears Cian Healy is in some trouble over his alleged bite of the Force’s Brett Sheehan. The complaint from Sheehan against Healy was made on the field during the first half of last night’s match to the referee. In a half time media interview though, Sheehan had calmed somewhat, not sure if it was an accident or intentional on the part of the Lions prop. According to Fairfax media, the Force later indicated they would not be taking the matter further.
However there are now reports (based on a Lions press release) that following a statement officials requested from Sheehan, Healy has indeed been cited over the incident. The prop has apparently been cited for an act contrary to good sportsmanship and will face the music at a hearing in Brisbane over the coming days.
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New skippers on the block
With the Wallabies squad members in camp as well as the usual injury concerns at this time of year, the captaincy of a number of Australian franchises is going to some new faces. Pat McCutcheon, he of the imperious sideburns, will captain the Tahs in the Sunday afternoon battle with the Western Force in Perth. Jeremy Tilse and Bernard Foley have been named the vice-captains to support McCutcheon in his captaincy debut.
Meanwhile, Nic White will have the honour of leading the Brumbies on Friday night as they face the Rebels. The 22-year-old Wallabies hopeful has received some words of wisdom from former Brumbies scrum half George Gregan, encouraging him to strike a balance “between not going too far in being too fiery or too temperamental, as well as avoiding going too far the other way, where he wouldn’t be himself”
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Corbisiero to provide Lions cover
Whilst the outcome of the biting allegation against Cian Healy remains unclear, one thing that is pretty obvious is the ankle injury he picked up in last night’s match is fairly serious. So much so that England prop Alex Corbisiero is on his way to Australia to provide cover. Corbisiero, who was on tour with the English national side in Argentina, missed most of this year’s Six Nations with injury, but now gets his shot with the Lions due to Healy’s injury issues. Whilst scans on Healy’s ankle revealed no break, with a new player on his way, it appears that there are concerns some serious ligament damage has taken place.
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Higginbotham’s injury pain
It was confirmed yesterday that in-form Rebels loose forward Scott Higginbotham will play no part in the upcoming Lions series. The shoulder injury sustained in the Rebels loss to the Queensland Reds has turned out to be serious enough to warrant a full shoulder reconstruction, dashing any hopes that Higginbotham would be able to play some kind of role in the series. Medical staff had given the shoulder a few days to settle, but scans revealed that the dislocation had caused significant ligament damage leaving surgery as the only option. The Rebels captain will be looking at a return for the Melbourne province sometime early in 2014.
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