Mitchell Moses’ World Cup is over after scans confirmed the Australia halfback has suffered a high-grade muscle tear during the Kangaroos’ narrow win over New Zealand.
The Parramatta captain was taken off shortly after half-time on Thursday night, with Tom Dearden moving into the halves. Moses is believed to have sustained the injury earlier in the match, with Reece Walsh taking over the kicking duties after Australia’s opening try.
Australia coach Kevin Walters said Moses had tried to continue despite the problem.
“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,” 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’ absence is a further blow to Australia after Nathan Cleary was ruled out before the tournament following a serious injury in Penrith’s preliminary-final defeat by Newcastle.
Canberra five-eighth Ethan Strange will now join the 23-man squad, while Dearden and Sam Walker are in line to form Australia’s halves pairing against Fiji.
“Sam will play next week, and we will put Tom at five-eighth,” Walters said. “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.”
New Zealand are also waiting on the fitness of Kalyn Ponga, who suffered a broken arm in the same match. The fullback, who was regarded as one of the outstanding players before being injured, is scheduled for surgery.
Team doctor Greg Macleod has not ruled Ponga out of the tournament, saying: “We wish Kalyn all the best with his surgery today. We’ll see how that goes, but for now he will remain in camp.”
Any potential return is likely to depend on New Zealand reaching the final, with Keano Kini expected to replace Ponga in the starting line-up.
