Australia v South Africa: Matt Henjak was called up to the Australian training camp on the eve of today's Tri-nations match with South Africa after Wallabies captain George Gregan hurt himself at practice yesterday.
Australia coach Eddie Jones said Gregan had complained of soreness in his calf after a training run, although the scrumhalf said he was still hopeful of playing in the Perth match. "We have flown Matt over purely as a precaution at this stage," Jones said in a statement. "With a bit of treatment tonight George should be fine and right to take his place in the starting line-up."
Gregan's scare came after the Wallabies announced Mat Rogers will replace injured winger Mark Gerrard. Rogers was initially chosen as a reserve but was promoted to the starting line-up after Gerrard tore his hamstring in training three days ago.
Clyde Rathbone, who was also under consideration to replace Gerrard, will start on the bench. A decision on whether uncapped utility back Adam Ashley-Cooper joins the bench has been delayed until just before kick-off. Ashley-Cooper joined the squad on Thursday but the Wallabies are considering adding an extra forward to the replacements instead.
Chris Whitaker is already in the squad as the back-up scrumhalf with Henjak, who was sent home in disgrace from South Africa after a nightclub incident, on standby. "It's going to be a good challenge," said Rogers, who has been out of action since injuring his knee in South Africa four weeks ago.
"Watching over the last month has been hard and I'm looking forward to being able to come out and hopefully offer something to the team."
The match is watershed for both sides, with the Wallabies hoping to avoid their fourth loss in a row and South Africa bidding to end their poor record away from home.
The Australians have been plagued by injuries and the controversy over the future of out-of-form skipper Gregan, and vice-captain Nathan Sharpe said the last thing they wanted was to become the first Wallaby side in nearly 20 years to lose four on the trot. "You can't go into games like this thinking like that," he said. "We are out to win the game and when we do that all that talk of four in a row goes out the window."
South African, the defending champions, are flying high after winning their two home matches against Australia and New Zealand but coach Jake White said he was not underestimating the Wallabies, given South Africa have beaten them just once in their past 13 matches on Australian soil. "It's a great Test match for us because it will see how resilient we are when we are on the other side of the fence," White said.
"Australia have got their back against the wall, they've lost three in a row, they don't want to end up losing again, they've got a captain who is under pressure."
AUSTRALIA: D Mitchell; C Rathbone/M Rogers, M Turinui, M Giteau, L Tuqiri; E Flatley, G Gregan (captain); B Young, B Cannon, Al Baxter, D Vickerman, N Sharpe, R Elsom, P Waugh, D Lyons. Replacements: S Moore, M Dunning, M Chisholm, G Smith, C Whitaker, C Rathbone/M Rogers, (AN other).
SOUTH AFRICA: P Montgomery; B Paulse, J Fourie, J de Villiers, B Habana; A Pretorious, R Januarie; O du Randt, J Smit (captain), CJ van der Linde, B Botha, V Matfield, S Burger, J Smith, J van Niekerk. Replacements: H Shimange, G Steenkamp, A van den Berg, J Cronje, F du Preez, W Julies, J van der Westhuyzen.
