{"id":10615,"date":"2012-05-07T12:54:16","date_gmt":"2012-05-07T10:54:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/05\/rugby-lealiifano-injury-hurts-wallabies-flyhalf-stocks\/"},"modified":"2012-05-07T12:54:16","modified_gmt":"2012-05-07T10:54:16","slug":"rugby-lealiifano-injury-hurts-wallabies-flyhalf-stocks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/rugby-lealiifano-injury-hurts-wallabies-flyhalf-stocks\/","title":{"rendered":"Rugby-Lealiifano injury hurts Wallabies flyhalf stocks"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n

MELBOURNE<\/span> May 7 (Reuters) – ACT Brumbies flyhalf Christian
\nLealiifano will miss six months of rugby after breaking his
\nankle in his team’s victory over the New South Wales Waratahs on
\nSaturday.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

The 25-year-old, who suffered the injury when his leg was
\ncaught under a Waratahs defender late in the Super Rugby match
\nat Canberra Stadium, would undergo surgery in Canberra on
\nMonday, the Brumbies said in a team release on Monday.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

While a big blow for the Brumbies, the loss of the in-form
\nLealiifano further limits Australia’s playmaking stocks ahead of
\nJune tests against Scotland and Wales.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

The Wallabies have already lost regular flyhalf Quade Cooper
\nto a long-term knee injury sustained during last year’s World
\nCup, while utility James O’Connor is not expected to be fit
\nafter suffering a lacerated liver in an on-field clash for the
\nMelbourne Rebels last month.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

The injuries leave Kurtley Beale, who played flyhalf in the
\nabsence of O’Connor in the Rebels’ loss to the Bulls over the
\nweekend, the likely candidate for a starting role at flyhalf for
\nthe Wallabies.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Australia play Scotland in Newcastle on June 5, before a
\nthree-match series against Wales in Brisbane (June 9), Melbourne
\n(16) and Sydney (23).<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

“That’s it, he’s gone for the season. Whatever the outcome
\nof the surgery he won’t be back for the Brumbies this year which
\nis a big blow for both Christian and the team,” Brumbies coach
\nJake White said after the Waratahs game.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

“It’s not ideal, we spoke about in the change room and it’s
\nnot great but it’s just another challenge that’s been thrown up
\nto the group.”<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Lealiifano’s loss opens the door for Robbie Coleman or Zack
\nHolmes to slot into the flyhalf position for the Brumbies, who
\nare top of the Australian conference and well placed to secure a
\nberth in the playoffs of the southern hemisphere provincial
\ntournament.
\n (Reporting by Ian Ransom; Editing by Peter Rutherford)<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\t\t\u00a9 Thomson Reuters 2012 All rights reserved<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MELBOURNE May 7 (Reuters) – ACT Brumbies flyhalf Christian Lealiifano will miss six months of rugby after breaking his ankle in his team’s victory over the New South Wales Waratahs on Saturday. The 25-year-old, who suffered the injury when his leg was caught under a Waratahs defender late in the Super Rugby match at Canberra […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[830,2370,183],"class_list":{"0":"post-10615","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-south-africa","7":"tag-news","8":"tag-reuters","9":"tag-south-africa-2","10":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10615"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10615\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}