Injured Wallaby Coleman faces nervous wait

The Spring Tour of Wallabies rookie Adam Coleman hangs in the balance after the lineout general suffered a potentially serious knee injury in the last-ditch win over Scotland – but reinforcements are already on the way.

Coleman crumpled to the ground five minutes into Saturday’s (Sunday AEDT) victory when a ruck collapsed around him and he copped a bump to his left knee.

The 25-year-old, who was immediately forced from the field, suffered medial ligament damage in the incident and underwent scans in Edinburgh on Saturday night after the match.

He will travel with the team to Paris on Sunday and coach Michael Cheika and the team expect to know by Monday whether or not Coleman’s tour is over.

“He’ll go and get some pictures now and then we’ll see what that presents for him, whether he can stay on or whether he’ll have to go home,” Cheika said.

Also on Monday, the Wallabies’ touring party will welcome seven members of the Barbarians team which has been playing in Europe in the past fortnight.

Props Toby Smith and Paddy Ryan, hooker Andrew Ready, lock Sam Carter, halfback Nic Stirzaker and outside backs Luke Morahan and Taqele Naiyaravoro will all join the Wallabies camp ahead of next week’s clash with France.

While all seven will be available against Les Blues, and there is certainly the potential for a team shake up if coach Cheika prioritises the grand slam fixtures against Ireland and England, they are more likely to face the French Barbarians the following week in Bordeaux as part of an Australian development team.

Should Coleman’s injury be serious, it will be a heavy blow to the Wallabies’ grand slam ambitions.

Despite Saturday’s win over Scotland being just his ninth Test, Coleman has quickly become an integral part of Cheika’s plans – taking on board the lineout calling duties and forming a brilliant young locking combination with fellow rookie Rory Arnold.

There were some wobbles with the Wallabies’ lineout after Coleman’s exit on Saturday – but captain and hooker Stephen Moore said he was pleased with the performance of the experienced Rob Simmons, who played 75 minutes after coming off the bench, took over the lineout calling and will likely step into the starting team if Coleman is unavailable.

“I thought Simmo did well when he came on and he played pretty much played the full game there which is always when you come on really early in the game,” Moore said.

“Unfortunately Adam went off so that’s a big effort.”

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