Wallabies lose Gordon and Hooper to injury ahead of France and Italy Tests

Australia have been dealt a significant injury blow ahead of their Nations Championship home stretch, with fly-half Carter Gordon and backrower Tom Hooper both ruled out of Saturday’s Test against France in Brisbane and the following fixture against Italy at Perth’s HBF Park.

Gordon was withdrawn during the Wallabies’ 33-31 defeat to Ireland in Sydney, with coach Joe Schmidt initially citing cramp as the reason for the substitution. A subsequent squad update on Tuesday confirmed the worse news: scans have revealed a calf strain that ends the 10-Test Wallaby’s involvement in both upcoming home Tests.

Hooper, who came off the bench with 12 minutes remaining against Ireland, has been ruled out with a shoulder injury. The 25-year-old Exeter Chiefs backrower will also miss the matches against France and Italy.

To bolster the squad, Western Force-bound playmaker Harry McLaughlin-Phillips has been called into the national set-up in Brisbane. Ben Donaldson provided fly-half cover off the bench in Sydney, while ACT Brumbies fly-half Declan Meredith — uncapped at international level — represents another option for Schmidt.

The injury news compounds a painful week for Australian rugby after the narrow defeat to Ireland, who have now won six consecutive Tests against the Wallabies. Sam Prendergast kicked the decisive points with under three minutes remaining at Sydney’s Allianz Stadium, which hosted a record crowd for the occasion. The match featured seven lead changes and was ultimately settled when Donaldson’s late penalty attempt drifted wide.

Saturday’s match against world-ranked fourth France represents another stern examination, but assistant coach Tom Donnelly drew encouragement from the performance against Ireland despite the result.

“We saw on the weekend that in periods of the game we can certainly match it with the world’s best,” Donnelly said. “But to beat those world’s best teams, just to be more accurate. Missed a few opportunities, probably a bit of ill-discipline in the second half and that’s what you can’t be if you want to beat the world’s best.”

The Wallabies have five more home matches this season, with the Rugby World Cup on home soil now approximately 15 months away.