Canham injury forces late Wallabies into late reshuffle for Springboks clash

The Wallabies will take on South Africa without Josh Canham after the in-form second-rower reported a minor hamstring strain after training on Friday. Reds teammate Lukhan Salakaia-Loto will start in place of Canham alongside Jeremy Williams, with Lachie Shaw promoted to the bench.

Canham has started seven Tests for the Wallabies this season, cementing himself as the team’s main lineout caller. Captain Harry Wilson said that while the loss of Canham was significant, it presented a major opportunity for Salakaia-Loto to impose his physicality on South Africa.

“Obviously it is always a big loss when you lose your line-out caller and someone like Canham has been playing some really good footy for us, but I guess with someone like Jeremy Williams, he has called lineouts in international footy before,” Wilson said.

“But to have someone Lukhan to come into the starting team, I know how excited he is, and he’s been raring to go. He might not offer sort of Canham’s jumping ability but, gee whiz, he can offer some other stuff around the field.

“We know they’re [South Africa] a team who want to go through us, and they’re a big, abrasive forward pack. So to have someone like Lukhan, it gives you a bit of confidence, and he really relishes those sort of battles.”

The Wallabies welcomed former Australian cricket coach Justin Langer to training on Wednesday, with the former Test opener spending time with Wilson and his leadership group.

“Every word he said, he was just so passionate,” Wilson said. “He’s obviously played at a high level for 15, 20 years, and he’s coached the Australian cricket team for five or six years through some tough periods and got the team to No.1 in the world.

“It was good to ask him what he expects from his leadership group, and we did get a lot of wisdom out of him.

“I remember he was a part of the unbelievable vintage of Australian cricket, where that team won 16 straight [Tests]. Then obviously he took over the Australian team after ‘Sandpapergate’, and he spoke about how he tried to reshape the culture there and the way they wanted to go about their business. It was some really cool wisdom from an Australian legend.”

The Wallabies watched the Roosters defeat the Dolphins in the NRL preliminary final on Friday evening.

Wilson is looking forward to being reunited with Mark Nawaqanitawase in the 15-man code after being impressed by the Roosters winger’s two-try performance in Brisbane.

“He’s got a pretty ridiculous CV from his two years in rugby league and watching him last night was crazy, and it’s great to see him come back to rugby,” Wilson said.

“I know how much he loves playing for the Wallabies, how much he loves rugby, and I know it’s his true passion. So to see him hopefully finish off his league journey with a premiership, State of Origin, playing for Australia ... he’s probably nearly completed it all.

It’ll be cool to see him back in the 15-man game and hopefully see him back in a Wallabies jersey soon.”

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