The Wallaroos have suffered a huge blow on the eve of Rugby World Cup with Olympic gold medallist Charlotte Caslick ruled out due to injury.
The Australia squad will depart for the tournament in England on Monday afternoon without Caslick as the sevens star fell short in a race against time to be fit after sustaining an ankle injury while playing against New Zealand last month.
Caslick was included in the Wallaroos’ 32-player squad named last week with the expectation that she would miss the opening pool game against Samoa on 23 August but aim to be available for the crunch clash with the US a week later.
The three-time Olympian and rugby sevens gold medallist shifted her full-time focus to the 15-a-side game with the dream of playing at a World Cup but will remain in Australia to continue her rehabilitation after surgery on the syndesmosis injury in mid-July.
The 30-year-old has been replaced by uncapped centre Manu’a Moleka who joins her sister Faitala in the Wallaroos squad, though Caslick can hold out hope to be recalled as a reinforcement later in the tournament.
“We’re really disappointed to lose Charlotte so close to the World Cup,” Australia coach Jo Yapp said. “She has shown great commitment to the XVs program and Wallaroos this year.
“Charlotte’s timeline to get back for our pool matches has changed and following medical advice, the decision was made to allow her to continue on an accelerated recovery program, where she could be available as an injury replacement should we require a player later in the tournament.”
Caslick turned her focus to the Wallaroos earlier this year and made her international debut against Fiji before going on to play five Tests as she loomed as a wildcard for Australia at the World Cup.
The sevens convert has been trialled in a variety of roles with the Wallaroos but was beginning to make an impact in the centres before suffering the ankle injury in the dying stages against the Black Ferns.
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Caslick said last week that she felt a sense of satisfaction that she had been named in the World Cup squad after making the switch of rugby codes, though she will return to the sevens program later this year with one eye on a fourth Olympics at LA 2028.
“It has been a great challenge for me,” Caslick told Guardian Australia last week about her experiences with the Wallaroos. “I feel like it’s pushed me out of my comfort zone and challenged me in ways that I didn’t think, at 30, I was still wanting to do.
“It has been great to be part of a new group and learning from different coaches. I kind of just felt like I was a student of the game again.”
