Toomua \"struggling\" in recent weeks

Fri, May 6, 2016, 1:49 AM
Matt Lewis
by Matt Lewis
Matt Toomua has been struggling with a knee injury in recent weeks. Photo: Getty Images
Matt Toomua has been struggling with a knee injury in recent weeks. Photo: Getty Images

Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham said the time was right to give Matt Toomua a break, after weeks of battling a knee niggle.

Toomua came off in the 73rd minute of their loss to the Highlanders, but had been managing the injury over a number of weeks.

“Yeah he’s been struggling for the last couple of weeks,” Larkham said.

“It’s been hard for him to get up for training runs and like we saw on the weekend it was hard for him to get through the game on the weekend so we had to make that decision.

“He needs a bit of a rest and it gives the other guys an opportunity.”

Toomua’s absence opens the door for the versatile Robbie Coleman who moves from wing to the centres, something that Larkham said he was pleased about.

Robbie Coleman moves from the wing to inside centre to cover the loss of Matt Toomua. Photo: Getty Images

“Robbie Coleman gets an opportunity and he’s been pushing to play 12 pretty much since he’s been here at the Brumbies,” he  said.

“He’s really looking forward to this opportunity and James Dargaville gets his start on the wing and he's also had a really good performance when he’s had his opportunity.”

Toomua will be monitored over the coming week with no timeframe set on his return.

“We’ve got a game against the Rebels next week and a bye and then we've got the Sunwolves before the June Test window,” Larkham said.

“So we’ll play it week by week with Matty, see how he pulls up at the end of this week and make a further assessment after that.”

In more positive news, Larkham said co-captain Stephen Moore will be all the more refreshed after a week recovering from a calf injury.

“He’s recovered really well,” he said.

“He didn’t go over to New Zealand last week, spent a bit of time at home.

“We came back a little bit fatigued having to travel on Sunday and train again on Monday and Squeak was very good lifting the energy of the group.”

The Brumbies play the Bulls on Friday at 7:45pm AEST, LIVE on FOX SPORTS. 

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