World Cup briefs: Mortlock blow for Australia
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The Canada hooker Pat Dunkley will miss the World Cup after injuring himself in training yesterday. The former national captain, who was almost killed by the flesh-eating infection necrotising fasciitis, suffered rib cartilage damage during a practice session at Wollongong University. Aaron Abrams has been called up to replace him. Three years ago Dunkley lost a piece of his leg as the surgeons cut away all the infected tissue and he still has a large scar. The damage was eventually repaired by a series of operations and skin grafts.
The Namibia full-back Desmond Snyders has been ruled out of the World Cup after breaking his right collarbone in training at Port Stephens on Saturday. A spokesman said the team had applied for Snyders to be replaced by Deon Grunschross. Snyders only made his test debut in August, coming on as a replacement in Namibia's 82-13 win over Uganda, but did enough to win a place in the squad. Namibia open their tournament against Argentina in Gosford on 14 October, when Jurie Booysen is likely to start at full-back.
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