Australian coach John Connolly on Wednesday defended rushing fullback Chris Latham back from injury for Saturday’s crunch Tri-Nations and Bledisloe Cup decider against New Zealand.
Wallaby legend Tim Horan has slammed the decision to put Latham on the bench for the match in Auckland, saying he is not ready to return to Test rugby after playing just two games of club rugby since a knee reconstruction in January.
Horan told Sydney’s Daily Telegraph newspaper that pitching Latham into such a high intensity game so soon after major surgery could impede his World Cup chances and his longevity in the game.
”It’s an unfair call on Chris,” Horan said. ”People who understand knee reconstructions will know it’s amazing he’s already playing so soon.”
Horan said Latham needed more lower level matches before returning to the Test arena.
But Connolly hit back as the Wallabies left Sydney for Auckland, saying he had left a telephone message for Horan asking the World Cup winning centre ”what are you up too?”.
Connolly said Latham was no more likely to get injured in a Test match than he was in a game of club rugby.
”He’s fit to play footy, he’s played two weekends in a row and he’s trained, so the footy side of it is he’s playing rugby,” Connolly told reporters.
”He could get injured in this game as he could in any other game, that’s not really an issue.
”The skill issue is the biggest issue for me, it takes time to bring your skills up to the level he’s had to play at.”
The Wallabies will be looking to carry on where they left off with their surprise 20-15 win over the All Blacks in Melbourne last month — and to break a winless streak of six years in New Zealand and 21 years in Auckland.
Victory would give Australia its first Tri-Nations title since 2001 and its first Bledisloe Cup since 2002. – Sapa-AFP