Wallabies curse strikes again with two injured

Australia hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau and wing Peter Betham are likely to miss the next round of the Rugby Championship because of injury, further depleting coach Ewen McKenzie’s resources in the areas he can least afford it.

Polota-Nau was rushed back from a knee injury for Saturday’s 32-25 victory over Argentina on the Gold Coast but ended the evening at Robina Stadium on crutches with an ankle problem.

Betham, the former Tasman Makos wing, missed the Waratahs’ run to the Super Rugby title because of a broken foot and aggravated that injury after scoring a try against the Pumas in his second test.

‘‘The hooker, winger curse continues,’’ McKenzie said.

‘‘No sooner do we get players back than they disappear again, quickly.’’

Both players look unlikely to travel to Cape Town to take on South Africa in Australia’s penultimate match of the tournament, where Polota-Nau’s scrummaging will be missed.

The hard-running rake was playing his 50th test and helped keep the muchvaunted Pumas at bay in the scrum for the first hour of the match.

With Stephen Moore and Nathan Charles already out for the season with knee and pectoral injuries respectively, James Hanson is likely to start against South Africa with Saia Faingaa coming on to the bench.

The paucity of stocks thereafter is indicated by the fact 33-year-old journeyman Josh Mann-Rea was on the brink of a test debut after Faingaa withdrew from the 23-man squad to face the Springboks in Perth last weekend.

The situation in the outside backs is not much better with Nick Cummins ruling himself out by choosing to play in Japan and Pat McCabe retiring after a third neck fracture in two years.

The versatile Adam Ashley-Cooper missed the Argentina match with a nerve compression injury to his neck but could be back next week.

McKenzie had hoped to unveil Henry Speight in the championship after he qualified for Australia last week but the hulking wing has a hamstring problem and will have to wait until the European tour to win his first cap.

Australia Rugby Union rules prevent McKenzie from selecting proven test campaigners Digby Ioane, Drew Mitchell and James O’Connor because they play overseas, the latter also still under a cloud after his eviction from the squad for disciplinary reasons last year.

Meanwhile, Argentina did not deserve to beat Australia after a late two-try surge earned a bonus point in defeat on the Gold Coast, according to their coach, Daniel Hourcade.

The Pumas fought back from 29-13 down in the last 20 minutes and might have stolen a draw if they had scored a try from a 5m scrum in the last few seconds. However, Argentina’s replacement halfback Tomas Cubelli was penalised for an early put-in and the chance was lost.

Hourcade was disappointed with their display, saying they could not have expected to win given their performance.

‘‘We didn’t play a good match, I think it was the worst of the four [so far],’’ he said. ‘‘We got out cheaply in the first half,’’ he added after the Pumas were dominated throughout the first 40 minutes but changed ends only 14-7 behind. ‘‘We spent most of the time defending.’’ Hourcade said their late fightback showed the players were ashamed of their efforts up to that point.

‘‘We began to pull back [into the game] and were close to a draw but I don’t think that would have been just because the Wallabies were better than us.’’

Argentina now have a two-week break.