Reds’ Super Rugby title hopes dealt blow after Wallaby’s injury revealed as Kiss hints at changes for Drua clash

The Queensland Reds might have got their season back on track last weekend, but their hopes of snapping a 14-year premiership drought have been rocked by a mounting injury toll.

Indeed, as the Reds prepare for three matches on the road, The Roar can reveal that regular Wallabies hooker Matt Faessler is expected to miss the rest of the Super Rugby season with a hamstring injury.  

While Faessler missed the Reds’ impressive 35-21 win over the Blues in Brisbane, few details had been revealed over the severity of the hooker’s early exit during their loss to the Brumbies earlier this month.

But just like Test back Josh Flook, who tore his hamstring from the bone against the Western Force, the reliable hooker badly damaged his hamstring and has set his sights on appearing against Fiji in Newcastle in early July.

While Joe Schmidt will be hopeful his lineout thrower can make a steady return in time to face the British and Irish Lions, Kiss has drafted in former Rebel and Waratah Theo Fourie to help bolster the Reds’ stocks at hooker.

It comes with Wallaby Josh Nasser also sidelined because of injury.

The 24-year-old could even line up this weekend against the Drua in Fiji after makeshift hooker George Blake also picked up a potential season-ending syndesmosis injury against the Blues.

“He may require a bit of time out of the game at this stage, but we’ll get some information on that down the track,” Kiss told reporters at Ballymore on Monday.

As well as the injured three hookers, the Reds also have Wallabies Flook, Harry Wilson, Liam Wright, Matt Gibbon and Filipo Daugunu sidelined.

At least the Reds have hooker Richie Asiata fit and firing.

After an injury-plagued few years, the 28-year-old has justified the Reds’ faith in the hooker by putting together an outstanding season to date.

It comes after he showed glimpses of what he’s capable of last year in Super Rugby, before scoring a hat-trick against Wales in Brisbane to put himself back on the map.

Now, the hooker has emerged as a bolter to take on the Lions, with the 120kg front-rower the biggest hooker in Australian rugby, especially given the Reds’ issues in the role and Dave Porecki’s continual setbacks. Force hooker Brandon Paenga-Amosa is also battling a calf issue.

The hooker’s throw also regularly hit the target during the Reds’ vital win over last year’s champions, with All Blacks Patrick Tuipulotu and Hoskins Sotutu unable to disrupt the home side’s lineout.

The 14-point win snapped a two-match losing streak to see them put some space between themselves and the chasing pack, but it’s also left Kiss with some selection headaches ahead of Saturday’s visit to Suva to take on the Drua.

Conscious of the history that shows teams struggle after playing in Fiji, Kiss is likely to rotate some of his squad to ensure they fire against local rivals the Waratahs, Brumbies and Hurricanes over the next month.

“It’s a tough one for any team to go there and then travel home and get the job done,” Kiss said.

“We’ve got a tight turnaround when we come back, we’ve got the Waratahs on the Friday night down there. 

“We’ve started on a plan. During the day, we’ll finalise how we’ll do that, in terms of our travel, the nature of the squad we take, who we start and who we finish. It certainly throws up different ways you’ve got to approach the game overall.

“We formed the tactics this morning, and we’ll finalise the squad around those tactics.”

Kiss admitted it was a “possibility” that in-form playmaker Tom Lynagh might be rested, while Hunter Paisami is another who could miss the match.

The favourite to succeed Schmidt could also leave one of his big locks at home, with Lukhan Salakaia-Loto playing big minutes in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, Kiss, who is expected to be confirmed as Wallabies coach on Wednesday morning, said he was pleased with the progress Lynagh had made.

The rising playmaker, who made his debut for the Wallabies last year but was left out of Schmidt’s end of year tour, showed a desire to run the ball against the Blues and set the tone for the Reds’ win over the Blues by scoring twice inside the opening ten minutes.

“He’s certainly getting better and better, isn’t he?” Kiss said. “More robust, more resilient.

“His kicking has always been superb. He pulled the trigger at the right time Tommy, he took the line on when he needed to.

“He gave us that bit of momentum when we needed it. I thought he had a good game.”