Head knock mars Edmed’s Wallaby debut

Tane Edmed’s (’18) debut for the Wallabies lasted just three minutes before a head knock in a crushing tackle forced him out of Australia’s thrilling finale against Ireland in Dublin.

The 24-year-old fly-half was brought into the fray off the bench in the 74th minute with the Wallabies three points down and the Test still on a knife-edge.

But he took a heavy knock as he threw himself into a tackle and had to come off for a HIA (head injury assessment), his debut over as Australia went on to lose 22-19.

“He said he feels all right, which is obviously the most important thing,” teammate Andrew Kellaway told AAP.

“It’s such a hard one, because he came on and did a great job in the short time he was on. He put himself in a position to make a tackle on a big man, with a big size difference there, and did a really good job.

“I’m sure he’ll be a little bit disappointed but at the end of the day he’s a Wallaby now.

“We’re so proud of him, and I’m sure his family feel the same.”

Australian coach Joe Schmidt hailed Edmed as “a super young man” and an example of how the Wallabies were building their depth with a view to the 2025 campaign by blooding new talent.

Edmed was Wallaby number 990, and the 19th fresh face of the year.