The Wallabies are preparing to face Georgia next week in their Rugby World Cup opener without former captain and prop James Slipper as he deals with a foot problem.
Slipper missed the defeat to France last week, with the Brumby racing the clock to be fit for September 10 (AEST time).
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"At this stage, definitely touch and go for Georgia, he’s got a tendon problem in his foot,” Wallabies coach Eddie Jones revealed to reporters.
“We believe we’ve got that under control and he’ll be back on the paddock after Georgia.”
Brumbies teammate Blake Schoupp is the likely replacement, making his debut against France over the weekend.
Next week's Rugby World Cup reflects the start of Jones' ultimate mission, what was earmarked as the crowning gem in his 'smash and grab' mentality.
Jones concedes his plan to bring home a third William Webb Ellis Cup has changed drastically since he took over at the start of the year.
“100% in terms of the emphasis of how we want to play (the plan has changed),” Jones admits.
“The team is always defined by how you play. Your playing style or identity dictates how the team is and we’re just finding that now.
“We’ve got a new leadership group led by Will (Skelton) and that’s changing the team as well.
“…The plan was always to free us up from structure. I don’t believe you can copy other team’s structure, you’ve got to come up with your own way of playing and so that’s always been the goal but initially we didn’t get it right in how we wanted to play."
Even though the results haven't followed, Jones and captain Will Skelton were adamant the team was finally starting to figure out what works best in a precarious, chaotic World Rugby environment.
“I was telling the players today it’s been a fascinating experiment,” Jones believes.
“You go in with a perception of how the team may be and then the player’s talents have really shone through and we’re just discovering now how we need to operate as a team, how we can play to our strengths.
“…For us, the big thing is to find the right way to our player’s strengths and then the leadership group being able to adapt on the field. We’ve seen most games now the captain doesn’t finish the game. You look at the weekend and most of them didn’t so the ability to adapt on the field, to sin bins, HIA is going to be significant.”
“We haven’t got the results but we’re definitely building in the direction we want to go. Georgia’s that first step,” Skelton added.
