The worst has been confirmed for star Kangaroos halfback Mitchell Moses, with his World Cup over following an injury in their heart-stopping win over New Zealand.
The Parramatta Eels captain was forced from the field just after half-time of Thursday’s clash, with Tom Dearden replacing him in the halves.
However, Moses likely picked up the injury far earlier in the match, with Reece Walsh taking over kicking duties after their opening try, with scans confirming a high-grade muscle tear that will end his tournament.
“Mitch made a wonderful contribution to our World Cup preparations during the camp in Sydney and very bravely tried to play through the injury until he eventually had to come from the field on Thursday night,” Australia coach Kevin Walters said.
“He is naturally disappointed at the outcome today and the fact that he tried to stay out there when he was clearly injured shows just what it means to him to represent his country and play in the Kangaroos jersey. We wish Mitch all the best with his recovery.”
Moses’ injury compounds the loss of Nathan Cleary before the tournament following his horrific injury in the Panthers preliminary final loss to Newcastle.
It will see Canberra five-eighth Ethan Strange added to the 23-man squad with Dearden and Sam Walker to battle for the No.7 jersey for their next game against Fiji.
“Sam will play next week, and we will put Tom at five-eighth,” Walters said on Thursday night.
“They’ll both get their chance to wear the Green and Gold together, which will be pretty exciting. They’ve never played together as a six and seven so that’ll be good.”
It comes as New Zealand hold out hope star Kalyn Ponga’s tournament may not be over despite suffering a broken arm in the same match.
The star fullback was arguably best on ground before his injury and has been booked in for surgery, with team doctor Greg Macleod not ruling him out of the tournament.
“We wish Kalyn all the best with his surgery today,” Macleod said.
“We’ll see how that goes, but for now he will remain in camp.”
However, any return for Ponga will likely be contingent on New Zealand making the final with Keano Kini likely to replace him in the starting line-up.