Australia Centre Len Ikitau Faces Race For World Cup Fitness Due To Injury
- Australia centre faces race for World Cup fitness after shoulder injury.
Australia centre Len Ikitau faces a race to be fit for the World Cup after fracturing a shoulder blade in the 34-31 Rugby Championship defeat by Argentina on Saturday.
Ikitau, who faces between six to eight weeks out, collided with Pumas full-back Emiliano Boffelli in the sixth minute, and went off 12 minutes later.
The 24-year-old had scored the opening try before being forced off.
Australia’s first match in the World Cup is against Georgia on 9 September.
Ikitau underwent tests after the match which confirmed the fracture.
“We’re disappointed Lenny’s injured,” Wallaby head coach Eddie Jones said.
“He’ll have all the scans that need to be had but it certainly didn’t look like a good sort of an injury, but we’ll wait and see.”
Ikitau has proven to be a key player for Australia since making his international debut in 2021, but his absence was exploited by Argentina.
After a reshuffle, Carter Gordon came on and Samu Kerevi slotted in at outside centre in Ikitau’s place.
“Defensively, he’s probably one of the best in the world that I’ve played with,” Kerevi said of Ikitau.
