Western Force winger Nick Cummins will be held back from Friday night's Super Rugby clash with the Hurricanes to ensure he'll be cherry ripe to face the Brumbies next week.
Cummins underwent minor surgery on his left ankle last month, but he was keen to front up against the unbeaten Hurricanes after arriving back in Perth from Japan on Saturday.
However, Force coach Michael Foley says it's in the best interests of both Cummins and the team to give him one more week to recover.
That spells bad news for the Brumbies, who host the Force on Friday week.
"He won't play this week," Foley said on Thursday.
"He ran fully earlier in the week, but it (his ankle) got a little bit swollen. So we're not going to take any risks."
Foley is confident Cummins' ankle won't be an ongoing issue throughout the season.
"It was relatively minor surgery," Foley said of the 15-Test winger, who had some floating bone removed from his ankle.
"You are always mindful when someone returns from surgery and they start to play again for the first time. You might need to deload him early in the week.
"But it certainly shouldn't hold him back from playing week in, week out, unless something extra happens."
The Force will also enter the match without lock Adam Coleman (hip), and flanker Chris Alcock (ankle).
But in some better news, Wallabies prop Pek Cowan will return from a neck injury to bolster a pack that struggled to fire in last week's 18-6 loss to the Reds.
The Force's scrum was heavily penalised in that match, with the Reds even awarded a penalty try from a tighthead scrum in the second half.
But Foley believes some of the Reds' scrummaging tactics may have created an unfair perception that the Force's pack was weak.
Foley has been in contact with SANZAR referees boss Lyndon Bray this week to hammer home his point and ensure referees don't have pre-conceived ideas about the Force's pack.
"Coming out of the Reds game, there were some things that happened there that you need to make sure people are attentive to, so it doesn't hang on your head as an issue," Foley said.
"There were some things in that game we weren't happy with, but we've dealt with that with Lyndon.
"We've sent that video through."
The Force have lost their past six matches against the Hurricanes, but they are hopeful of ending that streak in their first home match of the season.
Share
