Les Kiss had one clean week as Wallabies coach. It did not last.
Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii has been ruled out of Saturday's second Test against Japan in Townsville with a hamstring strain, and lock Miles Amatosero has been suspended for three weeks for the red-card cleanout that left Australia playing 20 minutes a man down in Osaka.
"Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii has picked up a minor hamstring strain playing against Japan in Osaka and won't be available for selection for this weekend's Test in Townsville," a Wallabies statement read. "Josh Flook will join the squad."
Flook, the Queensland Reds centre, has not played a Test since Australia's meeting with Japan last year. His call-up also shelves, for now, the experiment Kiss appeared to be building towards: Suaalii finished the 35-32 win in Osaka on the wing after starting at outside centre, and the coaching group had been weighing whether to start him there.
The timing is awkward for a player whose season has been defined by soft-tissue trouble. Suaalii missed three months between February and May, then reinjured himself two games into his return, and managed just five appearances for the NSW Waratahs in Super Rugby Pacific. Australia face Argentina twice from late August, and nothing about the longer-term picture has been confirmed.
Amatosero's ban was the second blow of the day. SANZAAR's Foul Play Review Committee found the 24-year-old guilty of dangerous play for his charge into a ruck on Japan captain Warner Dearns in the 32nd minute, an incident the TMO upgraded from yellow to red.
"The FPRC determined that the act of foul play merited a mid-range entry point of six weeks/matches," the committee's statement read. "In light of Amatosero's admission that he committed an act of foul play, along with mitigating factors such as his disciplinary history, experience, and remorse, the FPRC imposed a reduction of three weeks on the sanction."
In practice, the sanction costs Australia one Test. The second match of the ban falls on a Gordon Shute Shield fixture on August 22, and Amatosero has been given permission to apply for World Rugby's Coaching Intervention Programme in place of the third, which would clear him for Argentina on August 29.
Kiss was careful with his words about the incident itself.
"Maybe he could have controlled that a bit more, I don't know," the Wallabies coach said. "But ultimately, look, he's upset in there. I won't say too much more about it."
Amatosero's disciplinary record is not spotless. He was suspended by the Waratahs in January after breaking teammate Angus Scott-Young's cheekbone in a pre-season training altercation.
The replacements are there. Jeremy Williams came off the bench in Osaka and is the likely starter in Townsville, with Lukhan Salakaia-Loto primed for a bench recall and Lachlan Shaw, who debuted against Ireland, also in the squad. Tom Hooper has joined the group in Brisbane after recovering from the shoulder injury that kept him out of the Nations Championship.
Dearns, for his part, played on after the cleanout and scored the last try of the match, a detail that did nothing to change the committee's finding but explains why the incident drew less heat in Japan than it did in Australia.
Kiss names his 23 later this week. His first Test in charge produced a win and a red card; his second arrives with his most expensive back unavailable and his most combustible forward serving time.
