Australia lock David Giffin is expected to be back with the Wallabies after he was stretchered off unconscious in yesterday's opening World Cup win over Argentina.
Giffin fell awkwardly a minute after the restart of the 24-8 triumph at Telstra Stadium and needed lengthy treatment before he was eventually carted off the field and taken to hospital.
However, coach Eddie Jones confirmed Giffin - the only member of Australia's pack to have started in the winning campaign four years ago - had recovered consciousness on the way to hospital and had suffered no spinal damage.
"He should be back with us tonight, with is very positive news," said Jones. "I don't know how long he was unconscious but he was assessed by hospital staff on his arrival and they have confirmed he has not suffered any damage to his spine. I am not sure when he will be available again but we will carry out a series of data tests and once he has reached the level required we will deem him fit enough to train."
Under International Rugby Board rules, Giffin should be sidelined for three weeks, meaning he would miss the forthcoming clashes with Romania and Namibia but he would be available for the November 1st encounter with Ireland in Melbourne.
Argentina captain Agustin Pichot said yesterday the Pumas could still reach the World Cup quarter-finals despite their loss to Australia. The Pumas need to win their three remaining pool games to advance to the next phase but Pichot said he remained confident.
"Of course we can, but it will be hard," the scrumhalf said. "We are disappointed we lost tonight but it is not the end for us."
Pichot said his team had begun nervously and briefly lost their composure as the world champions disrupted their scrum and lineout. But he said they found their rhythm in the second half.
"Australia are a very good team but we never thought they were invincible," he said. "When we started to get some ball in the second half we put them under a lot of pressure and eventually got a try."
Argentina coach Marcelo Loffredo said he was also pleased at the way his side fought back in the second half but was unhappy with the high error rate. They were reduced to 14 men when centre Manuel Contepomi was sin binned for a high tackle on Mat Rogers and struggled to win their own lineouts. They even suffered the rare embarrassment of losing a scrum against the feed.
"We're not surprised at the result, we thought it might happen," Loffredo said. "It was always going to be a difficult game for us, but I'm still not happy with the game. We made too many mistakes and that helped them."
