Mortlock to miss All Blacks clash

SYDNEY – Wallabies captain Stirling Mortlock will miss this weekend’s Tri-Nations Test against New Zealand after failing to recover from a head knock against South Africa, coach Robbie Deans said yesterday.

Mortlock left the field looking dazed in the second half of the Wallabies’ upset 16-9 win over the world champions in Perth and Deans said he was not fit to play in Saturday’s blockbuster against the All Blacks in Sydney. “Stirling was concussed last weekend.We had hoped that, with time, the symptoms would resolve themselves but that hasn’t happened soon enough for this match, so we’ve made the call early,” Deans said.The coach named flanker George Smith, who took the captain’s armband for the latter stages of the Springboks match, as stand-in skipper against New Zealand.”George took over once Stirling left the field in Perth and got the team over the finish line so we’ve opted to maintain continuity by leaving him in charge,” he said.The Wallabies team for Saturday’s Tri-Nations Test, which also doubles as the opening match of the trans-Tasman Bledisloe Cup, will be named today.Nampa-Reuters”Stirling was concussed last weekend.We had hoped that, with time, the symptoms would resolve themselves but that hasn’t happened soon enough for this match, so we’ve made the call early,” Deans said.The coach named flanker George Smith, who took the captain’s armband for the latter stages of the Springboks match, as stand-in skipper against New Zealand.”George took over once Stirling left the field in Perth and got the team over the finish line so we’ve opted to maintain continuity by leaving him in charge,” he said.The Wallabies team for Saturday’s Tri-Nations Test, which also doubles as the opening match of the trans-Tasman Bledisloe Cup, will be named today.Nampa-Reuters