Wallabies Scott Higginbotham ruled out of Lions Tour, rugby for 2013

This hurts our chances more than a winger at 5/8. Cruel twist of fate for Higgers.

I could guarantee you would not get anywhere near players like Croft or O'Brien in terms of dynamism. Steve Borthwick is one of the world's best lineout jumpers - does that make him an athlete?

bugger, is the Lions series over already and I missed it?

Ben Mowen not athletic?? Huh? There's a reason a 6'5 guy is the leading lineout winner in Super 15. And it's not Stephen Moore's throwing. You might also want to have a look at this about 7 minutes in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=778s1pC6BWA He's no Croft but he's definitely an athlete.

Not that he'd be on my list of key Wallabies, but McCabe is out injured. Knee strain.

It is a real shame for him and the Wallabies. He has been in excellent form and has finally started to impose himself physically on the game. He really would have added a great deal to our pack at 6 and/or 8. Samo would be a good choice for the final 6 now to add some punch to our bench and share the tests with Palu at 8. I hope George Smith is on the mend and will be available for some of this series.

Palu is an outstanding 8 and the key reason for the Wallabies winning the series.

Bugger Beau Robinson and his stray knees ...

I'd have Mowen at 6 too. He's not the greatest athlete, but he's a clever (and calm) player, and he does a number of things well. Dennis is an irrelevance, coarse as that sounds. Sometimes I think he's a figment of my imagination... The Welsh love Lydiate and try to bandy about the idea that he's the new Richard Hill, which is borderline outrageous. I just do not see the point in him at Test level? Sometimes when players appear not to be doing much it really is because they're not doing that much. Flinging yourself at people's ankles does not equate to greatness IMO. I think he's a poor man's Joe Worsley, but people forget that a) Worsley could play 6, 7 and 8, and that in his early years (i.e. the same age as Lydiate) had an outstanding carrying game. A bit like a tighter Rocky Elsom (we all know how much Rocky loved chilling on the wing waiting for the ball).

Fotu seems to have faded. But both him and Radike Samo who has hit form again, both would add 30 minutes of punch from the bench. Far more than Mowen or Mcelman who offer nothing just keep it same old, same old. Late in the game vs a tiring pack Samo or Fotu could come into there own. Lopeti Timani has been in good form in shute shield borderline unstoppable in fact. I watched a few of his matches live, wow was he unstoppable at shute shield level, he's been like Jonah Lomu in shute shield the last month. Lopeti Timani could be handy for the last 30 , young and big. He's off to the rebel's next year to play with Higger's good move.

Johnno, I dont think Kurtley being on the booze and Quade note being selected can be counted as an injuries. MMM is not injured anymore. If he plays well against the Tahs, he should make the WBs squad. BB is currently not injured either and is in the squad. McCabe is not injured either, he simply has not had enough rugby to make the WBs.

Not really a fan of Lydiate, he makes his tackles sure but he isn't dominate in either defense or with ball in hand. He's a better Dave Dennis, but that's not really saying much. Mowen offers a lot more than Dennis and in an ideal world with Higgers fit I'd have him at 6 and Higgers at 8, who has gone past Palu this year. Dennis was bosched by Mogg the other week, who has about as much weight as a leukemia patient. Dennis is just not a test player.

Big game for him today. It's good he's playing with O'Brien, as he loves to hit it up down the middle which hopefully will give Croft licence to roam wider. If Dennis/Mowen starts at 6 in the Tests then I can't see a single reason to start Lydiate. One thing I have noticed about Lydiate is that although people talk about what a good defender he is, his technique actually allows the attackers to get over the gainline. I did also notice how much the coaches tried to use him at the back of the lineout against the Barbarians (much more than he does for Wales), which suggests they are really trying to get him in the Test team.

i also wanted to say what a great season higgs had ,he gave us all hope for a wonderful lions tour ,other guys have now got to pick up where he left off.

As an Australian fan, I seriously don't want Croft to bring his late AP form to he lions. He was playing rather well.

groundhog day, palu will start at 8 ,mowen at 6 , palu will last for 50 mins, then mowen will go to 8 and dennis will come on at 6. no different to what happenned at the tahs in 2010 and 2011, lets hope mowen doesn,t get injured as he is the only 80 minute player out of the three of them.

Shame. Big fan of Higginbotham. This seriously changes the dynamic of the game now: Australia are really lacking ball carriers in the back row. Bye bye Lydiate, hello Croft.

hoping others like palu, mowen, or palmer will step up when given the opportunity.

massive loss, higgs is such a beast; however will only be bigger and angrier next year, time to step up benny mowen!

Big blow. Here's to a quick recovery Scott.