David Pocock will miss Saturday’s Bledisloe Cup clash against the All Blacks in Auckland after it was revealed the Australian captain needs keyhole surgery on one of his knees.
He played through the pain last Saturday but scans showed cartilage damage requiring surgery.
He is set to be replaced by highly rated Brumbies flanker Michael Hooper with the uncapped Australia U20 captain Liam Gill also in the mix.
Will Genia will replace Pocock as captain but the length of the interim is yet to be determined even for the man in question.
“The surgeon said he wanted to avoid putting a timeline on it until after he actually got in there to have a look,” Pocock said.