SYDNEY, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Confirmation that Wallabies flyhalf Carter Gordon has fractured his leg and will miss a test against the Springboks and two against the All Blacks has once again exposed Australia's long-standingissues in the playmaking role.
The luckless Gordon, who had emerged as the first choice of new coach Les Kiss in the key position, will book in for yet another spell in the treatment room after suffering the injury late in Saturday's 28-28 draw against Argentina.
The injuries that have so frequently blighted the 25-year-old's career mean that Kiss has to consider it a gamble that he will be fit to lead the Australian backline throughout next year's World Cup on home soil.
Kiss, having experimented in his first four tests in charge against Japan and Argentina, would have been hoping to lock in combinations for the tougher challenges ahead.
Those hopes have been dashed by Gordon's injury and he must now ponder anew how to fill a jersey that has been worn by 13 different players in the last 10 seasons.
Carter did not start last weekend's Mendoza test, having suffered a nasty gash on his face in the previous week's clash with the Pumas, and his replacement Ben Donaldson would be the obvious choice to face South Africa in Perth on September 27.
Donaldson was making only his sixth start at flyhalf in his 25 tests, however, and has not entirely convinced as the long-term answer to Australia's playmaking conundrum.
A solid performer in Super Rugby with the flexibility to also fill in at fullback, Donaldson has decent ball skills but question marks remain over his decision-making at test level.
Joe Schmidt had him on the bench as backup for Tom Lynagh for the three British & Irish Lions tests last year but did not name him in a matchday squad for the remainder of 2025.
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The New Zealander brought the experienced James O'Connor back as starter after three years in exile and preferred as his back-up Tane Edmed, whose star has waned since he struggled to get playing time at the ACT Brumbies this season.
O'Connor, 36, masterminded the spectacular comeback win over South Africa at Ellis Park and remains an option for this year's Springboks test having just rejoined the Perth-based Western Force.
Lynagh, meanwhile, has also struggled with injuries since being thrown into the fire of last year's Lions series. He managed only 20 minutes of action during this Super Rugby season.
Schmidt opened the season with Gordon as his starting flyhalf but when a calf injury intervened he turned to 27-year-old rookie Declan Meredith, the player who had kept Edmed out of the Brumbies side.
Meredith did not do enough in his three test starts to suggest the merry-go-round of Australia playmakers was going to end any time soon, and the dilemma of whether to back youth or bank on experience passed from Schmidt to Kiss.
Bernard Foley has returned to Australia and is another experienced option, the 37-year-old having been the first and most enduring of Australia's 13 pivots over the last decade.
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Peter Rutherford)
