Ireland will not have to face the threat of outhalf Stephen Larkham in November when the Australian team arrives in Dublin for the Irish leg of their winter tour.
Larkham injured his shoulder during the Wallabies' 22-16 defeat to South Africa in the opening game of the Tri-Nations.
A scan has shown that the injury is as bad as it could be and the pivotal player will require total reconstruction of the joint. Australian officials believe Larkham will be out of the game for at least six months, which would rule him out of the British and Irish November tour.
"It is a tough decision, but the right thing to do," Larkham told the BBC. "The shoulder itself didn't feel that bad on Saturday, but the MRI indicates it is, and the advice is to have the reconstruction now to give me the best opportunity in time to recover for next year. It's disappointing on a number of fronts; missing out on the rest of the Test season, the upcoming Bledisloe Cup match against the All Blacks and the opportunity to improve on our start to the Tri-Nations."
Larkham could continue to play with the injury, but Australia do not want to take the risk of his rehabilitation time running into the beginning of next season.
South Africa have made a number of changes for Saturday's Tri-Nations game against New Zealand in Capetown. Flanker Schalk Burger, who was sinbinned when Ireland beat the Springboks last November at Lansdowne Road, has been recalled to the starting line-up.
Fit-again loosehead prop Os du Randt also returns, while Springbok coach Jake White has brought in Ricky Januarie at scrumhalf. Prop Gurthro Steenkamp, number eight Jacques Cronje and scrumhalf Fourie du Preez all drop to the bench. Joe van Niekerk moves to number eight to make way for Burger's return.
Wasps have signed former France hooker Raphael Ibanez from English Premiership rivals Saracens. Ibanez, who won 72 caps and captained France to Five Nations grand slams in 1997 and 1998, has agreed a two-year deal. He will fill the Wasps frontrow vacancy created by Trevor Leota's summer departure and could line up against his former club in the champions' league season opener at Twickenham on September 3rd.
Meanwhile, Glasgow's Scott Lawson has emerged as the man most likely to succeed Gordon Bulloch as Scotland hooker. Bulloch announced he was quitting international rugby as he begins a new club career with Leeds Tykes.
SOUTH AFRICA: P Montgomery; B Paulse, J Fourie, J de Villiers, B Habana; A Pretorius, R Januarie; O du Randt, J Smit (capt), CJ van der Linde, B Botha, V Matfield, S Burger, J Smith, J van Nierkerk. Replacements: H Shimange, G Steenkamp, A van den Berg, J Cronje, F du Preez, W Julies, J van der Westhuyzen.
