Rogers skips surgery to take Test chance

Calum Holt
Saturday 14 September 2002 00:00 BST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Mat Rogers is to delay shoulder surgery in order to tour Argentina and Europe with Australia later this year.

The Test three-quarter has suffered from a painful right shoulder for much of the season, but is determined not to miss out on the trip.

Rogers has won six caps, all from the bench, and is keen to earn his first start. "[Australia coach] Eddie Jones wants to try a few things on that tour so I really need to be part of that," Rogers said. "We talked about it, and if I got the surgery done as soon as I came back [from South Africa] I might have been cutting it fine as it could take anywhere from four to eight weeks to recover."

The tour squad is announced on 25 September and the Wallabies will play Argentina on 2 November before hitting Europe where they play Ireland on 9 November, England on 16 November and Italy on 23 November.

In New Zealand, Canterbury retained the Ranfurly Shield with a mistake-ridden 44-17 win over a hapless Northland at Jade Stadium in Christchurch yesterday.

In atrocious wet and windy conditions the match barely rose above the near-freezing temperature. Canterbury adopted a high-intensity approach and Northland never found their stride as they fell by seven tries to three.

When Northland did retain the ball they looked solid, but with referee Paul Honiss blowing 19 penalties and free kicks in the first-half alone, continuity was a problem.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in