WALLABIES winger Lote Tuqiri has been cleared to leave with the 34-man Australian squad this morning for the five-Test northern hemisphere tour.
However, there remains a good opportunity for another winger to take Tuqiri's Test spot, given the uncertainty over when the star back will be available for selection.
Even Wallabies coach Robbie Deans yesterday revealed that if Tuqiri did not recover properly from his knee injury in the early weeks of the tour, which starts in Hong Kong and then heads to Europe, he will be sent home.
The news was brighter for Wallabies utility forward Hugh McMeniman, who after rolling his ankle at training more than a week ago, was expected to miss the first two Tests of the tour - against the All Blacks in Hong Kong on Saturday night and Italy in Padova on November 8.
However, McMeniman, who underwent a fitness test at yesterday's final training at Brookvale Oval, is a slight chance of playing in the final Bledisloe Cup match. The second-rower ran relatively freely yesterday, and if he is fit, Deans is certain to select him against the All Blacks, realising that the Queenslander's involvement will provide an edge to the Australian pack.
Wallabies No.8 Wycliff Palu was also cleared to tour yesterday, but his knee injury means he'll miss the Hong Kong Test. Palu is expected to be available for Italy.
The great uncertainty though is when Tuqiri will play, which gives Drew Mitchell, Lachie Turner, Digby Ioane and even Ryan Cross a chance to become Peter Hynes's Test wing partner in Hong Kong, and get early form on the board.
"Lote is a wee way away from playing, and we just have to keep monitoring him at the moment," Deans said yesterday. "It's hard to say when he will play again, because he's got a fair amount to do. And if in doing that work he suffers a setback, we will send him home."
For Tuqiri it was sheer relief that he would not be left behind in Sydney.
"It's all fine now, and it will be great to get on the plane," he said. "I knew I was a really good chance of going, but I never wanted to predict it, because anything can happen. I started running at the end of last week, and it's coming along really well. I'm getting there, and hopefully I will be back training with the team next week."
Tuqiri conceded there would be some nervous moments for him, as missing Tests can prompt memory lapses from the Wallabies selectors, especially if someone else excels in your position.
"You never really want to give it up, but there's not much I can do," Tuqiri said.
But he knows that, given the arduous nature of the tour, the attrition rate is likely to be high, and all squad members will probably play.
"I'm excited about this tour, because there's a really good feel amongst the boys," Tuqiri said. "We've worked really hard, and I don't think we've worked this hard before a tour. You just get a feel that it's going to be a good tour, because the boys are really positive. But it's going to be a very tough tour. When you look at it on paper, you say to yourself: 'Oh, geez.'
"None of the games are easy. A punter could say that the Italy Test looks easy, but it isn't. The last time we played them over there, they rattled us. The Australian backs went into that game thinking we would score a few tries, but we didn't see the ball."
Confusion reigns over the format of next year's Super 14 competition, with South Africa continuing to push for representation from each country in an expanded finals series. As this could lead to underperforming teams making the finals, the idea is unlikely to find support in Australia and New Zealand.
