Mitchell Moses Is Out of the World Cup With a High-Grade Muscle Tear, and Ethan Strange Replaces Him

Australia’s halfback will take no further part in the tournament. An MRI in Sydney the day after the opener found a high-grade muscle tear in his lower leg, the NRL confirmed on Saturday, and Canberra five-eighth Ethan Strange will join the 23-man squad in Brisbane in the coming days.

He played on when he should not have

Moses was hurt in the first half of the 24-22 win over New Zealand and kept playing. Fox Sports reported that the injury probably happened before Australia’s first try in the 19th minute, which is when Reece Walsh took over the goal-kicking. Moses lasted until less than two minutes into the second half, and Tom Dearden replaced him.

Kevin Walters praised him for trying. “Mitch made a wonderful contribution to our World Cup preparations during the camp in Sydney and very bravely tried to play through the injury until he eventually had to come from the field on Thursday night,” the coach said. “The fact that he tried to stay out there when he was clearly injured shows just what it means to him to represent his country and play in the Kangaroos jersey.”

Australia’s halves, one week in

Walters picked Moses ahead of Sam Walker for the opener. Now Walker makes his debut at halfback against Fiji, with Dearden at five-eighth, and Cameron Munster also sits out that game.

It is the second halfback Australia have lost before or during this tournament. Nathan Cleary was ruled out with the leg fracture he suffered in the preliminary final, and Dylan Edwards and Lindsay Collins were already missing. Walters has a deeper squad than most, but he is now one more injury in the halves away from a real problem.

Who Ethan Strange is

Strange plays five-eighth for the Raiders and was in Walters’ extended squad as cover for exactly this. Walters has not said whether he will play against Fiji, where Walker and Dearden are already named in the halves. The goal-kicking is less of a worry than it might be, because Walsh took it over after Moses went down on Thursday.

What is next for Australia

Australia play Fiji at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday 25 October at 7.05pm AEST, then the Cook Islands in Townsville on 31 October. They lead Pool A after one game, and only two teams go through. The World Cup table is updated after every match.

New Zealand have injury trouble of their own. Kalyn Ponga had surgery on a broken arm after the same match, though the Kiwis have kept him in camp.