SYDNEY, 18 July 2006 — Australia lock Dan Vickerman has been cleared of serious injury after damaging his shoulder in the 49-0 Tri-Nations win over South Africa on Saturday.

The Wallabies’ pack leader and vice-captain is now hoping to be fit for Australia’s next contest against New Zealand in Brisbane on July 29.

“I’m pretty happy obviously. It’s a big relief,” the 27-year-old NSW Waratahs forward told the Australian Associated Press yesterday.

Vickerman was replaced shortly after half-time in Australia’s record rout of the Springboks at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium.

It was initially feared he would be out of action for six weeks with the injury to a shoulder that required reconstructive surgery last year, but a scan yesterday revealed the damage to be less severe.

“Coming off a long shoulder injury, I had six months out and sort of had a fair bit of time to reflect,” he said.

“So it’s good news this time around and hopefully I’ll do a bit of rehab over the next couple of weeks and get it back to where it was and get rid of the pain.” Vickerman said Australia must not rest on their laurels after the Springbok rout and must look to avenge the 32-12 reverse they suffered against the All Blacks earlier in the month.

“We’ve got to get more consistent. That’s the goal for us,” he said.

“At times, we still had some scrums that weren’t as good as we would have liked and we had some lineouts that weren’t as good as we like.” Vickerman, who will avoid all contact work for the rest of the week, said it was key for the Wallabies to bounce back against the All Blacks to set up a Bledisloe Cup decider in Auckland on Aug.19.

“It’s a key game for us and, if we can play well in that game and play the way we want to play, it will certainly stand us in good stead for the rest of the Tri-Nations.” In the next Tri-Nations fixture, the All Blacks take on South Africa in Wellington on Saturday.

Butch James to Join Battered Springboks

In Johannesburg, Super 14 Sharks’ flyhalf Butch James was yesterday on his way to join a battered Springbok squad as national coach Jake White scrambled to avoid a another drubbing, this time against the mighty All Blacks.

South Africa were crushed 49-0 in a record score by a rampant Australia on Saturday, prompting calls in South Africa for White’s resignation. Compounding the Springboks’ woes, lock Danie Rossouw was on his way back to home after injuring his left hamstring, the local SAPA news agency reported.

White’s season so far has been characterized by injuries to key players including the hard-working loose forward Schalk Burger and first choice lock Victor Matfield.