Hunter Paisami racing the clock to be fit for Bledisloe Cup as centre gives injury update

Tue, Sep 17, 2024, 5:35 AM
Nathan Williamson
by Nathan Williamson

Wallabies centre Hunter Paisami is pushing to be fit for the opening Bledisloe Cup match against the All Blacks on September 21.

Paisami missed the trip to Argentina after suffering a knee injury during the defeat to the Springboks in Perth.

Tickets to the 2024 Bledisloe Cup Test match are available here.

Initial speculation suggested Paisami would miss the rest of the Rugby Championship, however, the Reds midfielder was included as he pushes his case to be ready for Saturday's Test at Accor Stadium.

"It's been good. I've been back in yesterday, did some running so it's more taking it day by day," he told reporters.

"I'm still going through some return of play policy at the moment. I'm still up in the air. Just got to get my fitness right and also get the knee strong."

Paisami's reaction during the game was instant, having done a similar injury during the Super Rugby season in 2023.

It saw Max Jorgensen injected in for his Test debut as Andrew Kellaway shifted to centre, with Hamish Stewart the man tasked with filling his spot for the Tests to Argentina.

"The boys played well, especially that first game," Paisami remarked.

"It was awesome to see the boys find a way to win through that last moment of the game, which was special."

The Wallabies are hungry to bounce back after their second-half collapse in Argentina.

"It's been great learnings for us," prop Allan Alaalatoa said.

"We've seen pictures of us throughout both games when we're delivering on the things that we want to deliver on our game plan and the results and territory that we get off the back of that It's just painting and seeing those pictures and then when we go away from our system, seeing those pictures of when it hurts us and really trying to get an understanding of what it's like.

"Those have been the tough learnings for us over the last 48 hours but it's been a really good two days of prep so far for us."

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