Israel Folau and Ryan Crotty out of Bledisloe Cup rematch
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The All Blacks and Wallabies have both lost key players for the second Bledisloe test match at Auckland on Saturday after a bruising first test at Sydney.
New Zealand has lost center Ryan Crotty to concussion and winger Rieko Ioane to a hamstring injury, while Australia coach Michael Cheika confirmed on Sunday that star fullback Israel Folau would also miss the second Bledisloe match.
Folau was forced from the field with an ankle injury during the second half of the Wallabies' 38-13 defeat to the All Blacks in Sydney on Saturday.
"Looked like he rolled it when he went up to catch so we will see after he gets a scan exactly what the diagnosis is," Cheika said.
Jack Maddocks, who scored the Wallabies only try Saturday on debut, may start in Folau's place.
"I would imagine he would be there (but) we've also got Tom Banks, who's an out-and-out fullback so we'll see where we end up," Cheika said.
New Zealand has a 1-0 lead in the three match series and is heavily favored to extend its 16-year hold on the trophy by winning the second test at Auckland where Australia has not won a test since 1986.
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