Injury scare for Reds and Wallabies as star leaves field in pain

The Reds’ impressive victory over the Highlanders in Brisbane on Friday proved costly as they lost the services of star utility back Jordan Petaia due to injury.

It was the first time in 18 months that the 24-year-old had played at outside centre for the Reds but his participation in the game was cut short after only 33 minutes.

This, after Petaia was clutching his shoulder after he made what looked like a harmless-looking tackle.

In visible pain

He was in visible pain as he was escorted off the field by medical staff while being replaced by Lawson Creighton, who went on to score one of the Reds‘ four tries in their 31-0 bonus-point victory.

Petaia’s injury could rule him out of the rest of the Reds’ Super Rugby Pacific campaign and could also make him doubtful for the Wallabies‘ upcoming Tests against Wales and Georgia in July.

“News out of the Reds changing rooms is that he dislocated his shoulder and the medical staff helped him get that back in,” said ex-Australia centre Morgan Turinui during Stan Sport’s coverage of the match.

“Worse than a subluxation. You get a minimum of four to six weeks normally for him to rehab that, if not worse.

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“I think he’s in the changing room at the moment with his arm in a sling. Not great news for Jordan Petaia and the Reds.”

Meanwhile, Reds head coach Les Kiss confirmed that he saw Petaia briefly after the incident.

“The scans will prove everything tomorrow,” Kiss told Nine’s Wide World of Sports.

“I won’t make any assessment on that until we get the scans.”

Setback for club and country

Another former Wallabies centre, Tim Horan, described the injury as a “blow” for both the Reds and the Wallabies.

Horan warned that Petaia could have surgery depending on the severity of the injury.

“You can rehab it for six to eight weeks and see if it heals but the worst case scenario is an operation and reconstruction,” he said.

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