Matt Toomua & Tatafu Polota-Nau to miss Wallabies’ November Tests?

Inside centre Matt Toomua could have played his final Test of 2018 as Michael Cheika mulls whether to pick the playmaker and hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau in the Wallabies squad for their November Tests, writes Planet Rugby.

The Leicester Tigers duo have flown back to England to return to their club with the conclusion of the Rugby Championship and will not be eligible to play in the final Bledisloe Test in three weeks under World Rugby’s Regulation Nine.

They are both eligible to play in the November end-of-year tour but with their heavy workloads Cheika said he was contemplating giving them a break.

Toomua was shifted back to the bench for Australia’s clash with the Pumas after three consecutive starts, with Cheika preferring Bernard Foley in the 10 role.

Though Polota-Nau is not a prop, Cheika said the loss of Tom Robertson for the better part of a year with a suspected ACL injury would be a factor in his overall front-row picks.

“We’ll have to see how we structure the front-row stocks now we’ve lost a loosehead there,” he told Rugby Australia’s official website.

“We’ll see what happens there, what happens with Taf.

“Those guys who are playing in England, him and Matt Toomua, (we) have also got to be mindful of what that looks like, the whole season.

“Whether I decide to go with them in November or not, we’ll see.

“Otherwise they may get a chance to have a bit of a breather in November, because they’ve got Anglo-Welsh games.”

The Wallabies leave for Japan on October 21 and head on the end-of-year tour on November 3 with Tests against Wales (November 10), Italy (November 17) and England (November 24) to finish the season. Full story