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Wallabies lose Allan Alaalatoa in major blow ahead of Lions finale
By Finn Morton reporting from Sydney
The Wallabies have copped a major blow ahead of the third Test against the British & Irish Lions, with prop Allan Alaalatoa ruled out of the series finale with a shoulder injury.
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Alaalatoa has been under an injury cloud since last weekend’s 29-26 defeat at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, after the front-rower was replaced at half-time.
About one hour after full-time, Alaalatoa spoke with reporters about the “little niggle” that would require “a medical check” the next day. The Roar have since reported the former Wallabies captain would miss the third Lions Series Test, which was confirmed on Tuesday morning.
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In a brief statement on social media, the Wallabies confirmed the concerning update around 8:00 am AEST, which comes as a significant loss for a team looking to avoid unwanted history this weekend at Sydney’s Accor Stadium.
After winning the first two Tests in Brisbane and Melbourne, the Lions are looking to sweep a Test series in Australia for the first time since 1904. The Wallabies are now without Alaalatoa and Harry Potter, while there have been concerns about some other players.
Two-Test All Black Aidan Ross has been called into the Wallabies squad for the first time to replace Potter, having completed the three-year standdown period from Test rugby. Ross represented New Zealand twice in July 2022, having only recently become eligible for a switch.
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It should be noted that Alaalatoa is a tighthead and Ross is a loosehead, so this isn’t a like-for-like replacement up front. Elsewhere in the squad, centre Josh Flook was also called in after Filipo Daugunu was ruled out of the second Test.
With the Wallabies down two-nil in the series, and now that they’re without one of their leaders in the forward pack, the team will go into the third Test as underdogs once again. But as Alaalatoa said after full-time on Saturday, “the Australian way is you never back down.”
“It’s a dead rubber, but we are still going out there wearing a Wallaby jersey, representing our country and representing our family,” Alaalatoa told reporters in Melbourne.
“And we want to go out there and put on a good performance that everyone can be proud of. The disappointment that we are feeling now – we will definitely be using that to feed us throughout the whole week.
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“It’s our third game in and we want to keep growing and getting better every week. The boys are gutted that we didn’t come away with that win, but look back and see, as a team, we are growing.
“Our performance was a massive step forward since last week. There will be moments where we can look back and learn. We have grown from where we were last year against Wales. We have come a massive way.”
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