Instead of preparing for tomorrow's Test match against Samoa and a sixth Scotland cap, Tom Philip was yesterday left to contemplate knee reconstruction surgery and nine months of intense rehabilitation after a seemingly innocuous accident on the beach left him with a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament.
Philip was running in a training drill near Scotland's Gold Coast base on Sunday when he bumped into team-mate Dan Parks.
Although there was an intense, immediate pain, that quickly subsided and there appeared to be nothing seriously amiss, until Scotland's doctor realised Philip's knee was unusually "loose" and referred him to a specialist.
The subsequent scan showed the 20-year-old had suffered a rare form of knee injury, which involved rupturing the ligament but not damaging its protective "capsule".
As a result, Philip had been walking pain-free around the hotel and was expecting to play before the Brisbane specialist - who had treated Andrew Mower at the World Cup - advised he would require a full knee reconstruction.
"It was heartbreaking to be told how serious it was. It's one thing to be going home from the tour, but quite another to be out of the game for so long," Philip said.
The extent of Philip's injury was only confirmed late on Tuesday and forced coach Matt Williams to reshuffle his Test side, with Ben Hinshelwood now starting at outside centre.
Meanwhile, after seven successive defeats this year, Scotland finally managed to give coach Williams his first win when they beat New South Wales Country 48-19 on Tuesday.
Scrumhalf Graeme Beveridge sparked Scotland into life with the first try, Hugo Southwell squeezed over in the corner and Scotland then ran away to victory with second-half scores from Scott Gray, Scott McLeod, Paul Dearlove and Andy Hall.
Dan Parks, Scotland's Australian-born outhalf, produced a faultless kicking display and finished with 18 points.
SCOTLAND (v Samoa, in Wellington tomorrow): C Paterson; S Lamont, B Hinshelwood, A Henderson, S Webster; G Ross, C Cusiter; T Smith, G Bulloch, B Douglas, S Grimes, S Murray (capt), J White, D MacFadyen, A Hogg. Replacements: S Scott, C Smith, I Fullarton, J Petrie, M Blair, D Parks, H Southwell.
