Brumbies winger Joe Tomane has played his last ACT match, after breaking his leg in a club rugby match.
Tomane was returning from a medial ligament injury in the Canberra Uni game against Norths, when a low tackle forced him from the field.
While it was initially thought he might have had a knee setback, the Wallabies winger tweeted on Monday that scans discovered two fractures in his tibia, the largest bone in the leg, set to rule him out for up to eight weeks.
I've played my last game in @BrumbiesRugby colours. Scans showed i have 2 fractures in my tibia. Absolutely shattered....
— Joe Tomane (@JoeTomane29) July 11, 2016
With Tomane headed to Montpellier at the end of the Super Rugby season, the injury has robbed him of a chance for a finals push and a fitting farewell in Canberra.
The Brumbies face a must-win match against the Force on Saturday night in Canberra, though have the advantage of playing the final game of the round, after their closest rivals, the Waratahs, meaning they will know exactly the equation needed to take the only Australian finals spot.
Asked earlier on Monday, backrower Jarrad Butler said he hoped Tomane would make it back for this weekend's clash.
"I was at the game where he injured himself again and really hopeful that he can pull through but Joe's a really strong guy and I'm sure if anyone can pull it back it's him," he said.
"Regardless our two wingers who have been playing so far Nige (Nigel Ah Wong) and (James) Dargaville, they've both been really good for us so far and if they need to be there again they'll do a really good job."
Butler said the Brumbies had been lucky in a sense with their 40-15 loss to the Blues, with the Waratahs loss to the Hurricanes meaning the Brumbies finished the weekend still leading the Australian conference and giving them control of proceedings this weekend.
"We're kind of fortunate how it worked out that we get another chance now to be able to do the job ourselves and put ourselves into a really good spot to hopefully keep going."
If they do make it through their final challenge, they will host a home quarter-final against the top wildcard seed, likely to be the Crusaders or Hurricanes.
Despite the lopsided 3-21 record between Australian and New Zealand teams this season, Butler said he was confident the side could turn things around if they make the playoffs.
"It's a disappointing week for a lot of teams but as far as we're concerned what's important now is looking forward and putting a good performance against the Force and then building into hopefully a finals series."
