• Loosehead back for Rugby World Cup final after elbow injury
• Israel Folau keeps station and Matt Giteau shrugs off groin strainIt is some time since Australia sweated on the fitness of a prop – the main incompatibility used to be the manner in which they collapsed a scrum – but the return of Scott Sio,a loosehead who prefers to stay on his feet, from the elbow injury that forced him to miss Sunday’s victory over Argentina for the final against New Zealand is timely.
The final is being billed as the battle of the breakdown, or in particular Richie McCaw against David Pocock,but the bits and pieces will be meaningful. Australia’s scrum disintegrated without Sio, admittedly against an Argentina side who for all their new enthusiasm of throwing the ball around have not lost their relish for the muckier aspects of the game, or it is not the area of New Zealand’s greatest strength.
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Source: theguardian.com