SCOTT HIGGINBOTHAM has earned the ire of the Waratahs following the shocking injury that has destroyed Drew Mitchell's World Cup dreams.
Mitchell underwent an operation in Brisbane yesterday after dislocating his ankle and fracturing his fibula, which will sideline him for up to six months. The injury came in the 19th minute of play at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night when Mitchell ran into the back of Higginbotham chasing a kick. The Reds back-rower had changed his line of retreat to impede Mitchell, which resulted in the collision.
Waratahs coach Chris Hickey fumed: ''[Mitchell] would be devastated, particularly when it happens in an incident, someone deliberately does something that causes something to happen.
'It was [deliberate] and that is disappointing. You have a lot of mixed feelings, disappointment, anger, particularly for Drew. It's a World Cup year and his form both last year and this year have been outstanding. It's not only a big loss for the Waratahs, it's a big loss for the Wallabies as well.
''I'm not a doctor but I think you're looking at five or six months before he could play again.''
However, Higginbotham did not move to intentionally injure Mitchell - it was a by-product of the collision - and so the Waratahs said there was no grounds for making a complaint to the SANZAR citing commission.
Mitchell retained his humour from his hospital bed, tweeting yesterday: ''Surgery apparently went well (not that they'd say otherwise haha) with a bit of luck, I'll be back on deck in a few months.''
But the form winger in Australia will be shattered at the ramifications of the gruesome injury, having established himself as a certainty for Robbie Deans' World Cup squad. Mitchell was the only winger to feature in the top 10 Australian Super Rugby players of the year voting tally released at the midway stage of the tournament last week, and was the second-highest try-scorer in the competition.
As he chased the kick, Higginbotham looked over his shoulder and moved left to block Mitchell, an occurrence worthy of a penalty but common practice in rugby. Mitchell tripped as he ran into Higginbotham's back and fell awkwardly, which caused the dislocation and breakage. The 27-year-old squirmed in horror upon seeing his ankle lying at a 90-degree angle, while many sideline observers recoiled. The ankle was put back in place on the ground before the Queensland product was taken to hospital. Mitchell, who scored seven tries in the 2007 World Cup, was in career-best form this year.
