Larkham ruled out as Brumbies look to break Dunedin duck

Brumbies flyhalf Stephen Larkham has lost his battle with an arm injury and has been ruled out of Friday night’s Tooheys New Super 12 Week 7 clash with the Highlanders at Carisbrook.

Larkham, who completed a fitness test involving some passing drills and a strength test in Dunedin yesterday afternoon, was forced to withdraw from Friday night’s match after pulling out during contact work prior to this morning’s Captain’s run session at Carisbrook.

“I was feeling fairly positive (about my chances) after yesterday but the first tackle I tried to make this morning I felt sharp pain in the arm,” said Larkham.

“I’m not having any problems passing the ball and I’ve got good strength in the arm but I’m getting quite a bit of pain whenever there’s contact. There’s still quite a bit of tenderness.”

Larkham will fly to Christchurch tonight before returning to Canberra tomorrow morning, where he will undergo an MRI scan to further investigate the injury.

“From the x-ray and the CT scan taken in Auckland we know there aren’t any fractures but I’ll have an MRI when I get back home and try and determine exactly what’s happening (with the injury).”

Larkham’s place in the team will be taken by Matt Giteau, who makes the switch from inside centre to flyhalf for Friday night’s crucial game.

Gene Fairbanks, who was left out of the 22-man team in Auckland last weekend, has been called immediately back into the starting lineup at inside centre.

Nic Henderson returns to the starting team at tighthead prop for the injured Guy Shepherdson, while 21-year-old Henari Veratau will earn his second starting jersey for the Brumbies when he lines up on the wing for Friday night’s match.

Veratau, who scored a try in his run-on debut against the Stormers in Canberra last month, will start on the left wing with Lenny Beckett switching to the right wing to take the place of the injured Clyde Rathbone.

Brumbies head coach Laurie Fisher is confident his team can break through for its first ever victory at the notorious “House of Pain” despite his team’s continuing battle with injuries.

“It’s certainly been a difficult year with injuries but having said that we’ve still got a very strong team for this weekend’s match and we’re not going to be using injuries as an excuse for our performance this weekend.”

“We have struggled to get certain combinations together on the field with the number of changes to the team each week but some of these players have had two or three matches together now so you’ve got those combinations starting to form. Matt Giteau and Gene Fairbanks are starting to gain a good understanding of each other’s games.”

The Highlanders, who are currently placed inside the top four and boast Super 12’s best defensive record, pose a big challenge for the fifth-placed Brumbies while they try to stay in touch with the competition leaders.

“The Highlanders have been outstanding defensively this season and have had success both here at Carisbrook and away from home as well,” said Fisher after this morning’s final Brumbies training session.

“This week we’ve placed a lot of emphasis on our breakdown work and first and second phase options, which have hurt us over the last couple of weeks. We haven’t produced our best performances on tour but we’ve had a very good preparation for this match and a chance to chalk up a big win before returning home for the Waratahs at Canberra Stadium next weekend.”

Tooheys New Super 12 Week 7

Brumbies v Highlanders

Carisbrook, Dunedin

Friday 8 April, 2005

Kick off: 7.30pm (NZ time)

1.         Bill Young                    Loosehead prop                                          

2.         Jeremy Paul                  Hooker                                                                      

3.         Nic Henderson        Tighthead prop                                            

4.         Radike Samo               Lock                                                               

5.         Mark Chisholm            Lock                                                               

6.         Owen Finegan             Blindside Flanker                            

7.         George Smith              Openside Flanker                                       

8.         Scott Fava                  No.8                                                                           

9.         George Gregan        Scrumhalf                                                                 

10.       Matt Giteau             Flyhalf                                                           

11.       Henari Veratau        Wing

12.       Gene Fairbanks       Inside Centre                                               

13.       Stirling Mortlock (c) Outside Centre                              

14.       Lenny Beckett Wing

15.       Mark Gerrard               Fullback                                                        

16.       David Palavi             Reserve                                            

17.       David Fitter                          Reserve                                                        

18.       Adam Wallace-Harrison    Reserve                                                        

19.       Tamaiti Horua                      Reserve                                                        

20.       Matt Henjak                          Reserve                                                        

21.       Joel Wilson                          Reserve                                                        

22.       Sam Norton-Knight           Reserve