Wallabies flanker David Pocock still battling neck issues ahead of Test clash with South Africa

DAVID Pocock’s toughness to absorb human missiles when he commands position over the ball is renowned yet a proliferation of neck rolls and twists has put strain even on his durability.

David Pocock at Wallabies training at Sanctuary Cove on Monday. Picture: AAP

DAVID Pocock’s toughness to absorb human missiles when he commands position over the ball is renowned yet a proliferation of neck rolls and twists has put strain even on his durability.

Whether the Wallabies’ backrow talisman is ready for more intense physical collisions against South Africa on Saturday night remains undecided.

Pocock was in varying degrees of distress when he held his neck three times during the first half of the Wallabies’ recent 40-12 jolt in Auckland.

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At least one clear neck roll was used to shift him from the breakdown by an All Blacks opponent and the 71-Test Wallaby is plotting a careful course to Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium.

World Rugby’s disdain for anything resembling a high tackle or shoulder charge has generated consistent yellow cards yet sin-binnings for neck rolls have been far less strict even when the law book demands it for “grabbing and rolling/twisting around the head/neck area.”

It’s an act that needs rubbing out of the game.

David Pocock at Wallabies training at Sanctuary Cove on Monday. Picture: AAP

Pocock did all the running to open Monday’s session at their Sanctuary Cove base on the Gold Coast where Queensland’s State of Origin rugby league team often enjoy their behind-closed-doors preparation.

He opted out of the second half of the session and it’s yet to be settled whether he faces the Boks or not.

Perhaps the best read on Pocock’s readiness is that coach Michael Cheika has called an extra backrower, Caleb Timu, into the squad for this week’s preparation.

Lock Izack Rodda surprisingly opened the session in the rehab group on Monday because of a few lingering body niggles from last month’s visit to Auckland.

The question marks create some intrigue with the selection of the Australian backrow and second-row because they are such areas of strength for the Boks under their new skipper Siya Kolisi.

David Pocock after he had his neck rolled against the All Blacks in Auckland. Picture: AAP

Lukhan Tui is a terrific project player for the Wallabies and he has the right mind for it, when at 21, he can be so blunt in what he has to work on to transition from lock to being a Test-class No.6.

“You can look at all the good things you might do but it’s the one bad thing I think more about,” Tui said.

“I’ve always said that playing lock or No.6, it is still ‘run hard, tackle hard’ for me but you do want to add things.

“It’s getting faster, workrate stuff, things like that.”

Employing Tui as a big ball-runner on the edge does bring his off-loading game into play as a weapon. Equally, no side will take advantage more than the Boks if he continues to run so upright and allows himself to held up in tackles for turnovers of possession.

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Originally published as Wallabies flanker David Pocock still battling neck issues ahead of Test clash with South Africa