The Wallabies have confirmed the worst for Tate McDermott, the scrum-half who lasted just 20 minutes of last Saturday’s Rugby Championship match in Auckland.
Joe Schmidt’s side had already lost a couple of early tries to the All Blacks by the time of McDermott’s painful Eden Park departure.
His exit resulted in the uncapped Ryan Lonergan stepping off the bench. The international rookie didn’t let his team down, but it was significant that the most influential All Blacks player on the night was their two-try scrum-half Cam Roigard.
McDermott was named to start in the Wallabies team on the occasion of his 50th cap following the retirement of Nic White and the return of the fit-again Jake Gordon to the squad.
“Extended period of time on the sideline”
His selection at No.9 snapped a seven-game run on the bench as a sub, dating back to his previous start in the pre-Lions series match with Fiji in Newcastle.
However, hopes of McDermott enjoying a decent run in the starting shirt have been dashed following a cruel medical bulletin from the Wallabies.
It read: “Scans have confirmed Tate McDermott will require surgery on a hamstring injury he suffered in Auckland. He is expected to spend an extended period of time on the sideline through his recovery.”
The loss of the 27-year-old McDermott will ratchet up the focus on Gordon proving his fitness this week for the Round Six rematch with the All Blacks in Perth after a metrics review in New Zealand resulted in Wallabies boss Schmidt opting not to include him in the matchday 23.
“Jake trained this week, but we could tell from his metrics he wasn’t quite (ready),” explained the head coach last Thursday when he unveiled his team for Auckland.
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“He is getting back to where he needs to be and by the time next week comes, he will be fully ready. But just to put him in a little bit underdone in a game that could be very fast-paced, we didn’t believe that was in his best interests.”
McDermott’s absence, which could stretch into the 2026 Super Rugby Pacific season with the Reds, has already resulted in Schmidt calling up White for the second time this year after he had retired.
White originally stepped away after the British and Irish Lions series ended on August 2, but he soon made a U-turn and was on the team’s flight to South Africa.
Now, having stepped away a second time following the Round Four Championship match with Argentina in Sydney, he is back in the fold and training in Perth.
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Fronting the media on Tuesday, second-row Jeremy Williams revealed White was training away as hard as ever.
“We will just have to wait and see how they go about it [team selection for next Saturday]. But you know Nic, he has got that competitive nature in him,” he said.
“He was out there competing again today like he always does, so it’s awesome to have him back in the group and around the boys again.”