Tatafu Polota-Nau to miss Wallabies’ November tour
Hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau will not be healthy enough to participate in the upcoming Australian Wallabies tour. The veteran front-liner has been suffering ankle problems and was not available to play with the club in the Tri Nations. It appears as though those
problems are still plaguing him and he will not feature in the squad in November.
The Wallabies are set to travel to Hong Kong to start the tour against New Zealand before continuing on to Europe to face-off against Wales, England, Italy and France.
Australia was hoping to have Polota-Nau on their side, as they currently have a fairly small front line and would have been keen to boost their size before going up against the likes of England and Wales. Moreover, coach Robbie Deans would have enjoyed infusing
the line-up with some new blood, especially since Australia struggled against New Zealand, losing all three of their Tri Nations matches against the All Blacks.
Deans was concerned about Polota-Nau’s overall fitness, saying, “He’s rehabbing well and he won’t be far away, but the reality is he probably won’t be ready for the front end. We just can’t afford to take people who aren’t ready for it.”
Polota-Nau concurred with his coach, stating: “I sort of ruled out any possibility of going with an 85% fitness tolerance. I want to be 100% and give everything I have in order for the Wallabies to succeed on the spring tour.”
Deans also mentioned that he has ruled out Digby Ioane, James Horwill and Wycliff Palu, who are all still suffering from long-term injuries.
Deans has yet to reveal his 40-man roster, which is set to come out on 3 October. From there Deans will cut the squad down to 36 on 13 October and then to 30 by 13 November.
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