Super 14
Palu's season ended by injury
Scrum.com
April 12, 2010
The Waratahs' Wycliff Palu stretches the Sharks' defence, Waratahs v Sharks, Super 14, Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, Australia, March 6, 2010
The Waratahs will miss Wycliff Palu's 'go forward' © Getty Images
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A season ending knee ligament tear for No.8 Wycliff Palu headlines a list of injuries for the Waratahs in the wake of their bruising Super 14 defeat to the Crusaders on Saturday.

Palu has been ruled out for the rest of the domestic and international season after rupturing his right anterior cruciate ligament in Christchurch, while fellow forwards Benn Robinson (arm) and Tatafu Polota-Nau (shoulder) also picked up problems.

Palu, who just last week re-signed with the Waratahs and Australian Rugby Union for a further two years, underwent scans on Monday which confirmed the extent of the injury.

Waratahs coach Chris Hickey admitted the loss of Palu was a massive blow to the team and the rest of the squad would need to up their game for the rest of the Super 14 campaign for the Waratahs to maintain their good form to date.

"Cliffy's been voted the players' player for the last two years and the go forward he gives us is second to none," Hickey said. "You simply can't bring someone else in and ask them to do the job of Cliffy. It's up to a number of other players to lift 5-10% which we know they can do and will have to do."

Robinson and Polota-Nau will be making the most of the Waratahs' upcoming bye in trying to recover for the vital clash with the Brumbies a week on Saturday. Robinson has a small fracture in his right arm while Polota-Nau has ligament damage to his shoulder.

"It's going to be a bit of a waiting game with both Robbo and Tatafu. They both have fairly significant injuries and if we didn't have the bye this week they definitely wouldn't be available," Hickey said. "In that sense, the injuries have come at a good time.

"They'll both want to be a part of the Brumbies match at Homebush which is going to be a big game for both teams, but we simply won't risk them if they're not right."

Daniel Halangahu was diagnosed with a grade one strain of the right medial ligament but he continued to play on and is expected to be fit for the next match.

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