Larkham out for three weeks

Brumbies flyhalf Stephen Larkham

Brumbies flyhalf Stephen Larkham has been cleared of a fracture in his upper chest but is still expected to be out of action for three weeks with a shoulder injury.

Larkham suffered a subluxed sternoclavicular joint during the Brumbies' 11-10 loss to the Hurricanes in Wellington on Friday night.
 
"I got tackled by Tana (Umaga), my shoulder was down and it got jammed," he said. "It wasn't particularly painful but I knew that something was wrong straight away."
 
"I'm relieved that the injury's not as serious as it could be. The challenge now is to do everything that I can to get back as quickly as possible. The boys have got two important, tough matches at home and my focus is to make a positive contribution to the side when I get back."

Larkham said he would set his sights on making his comeback against the Sharks in Durban on March 24.

Brumbies doctor Warren McDonald said Larkham should regain full range of motion as the injury settles down.

"We'll be cautious and see how the ligaments heal and keep him out of contact to avoid any direct blows or unnecessary compressionm" McDonald said.
 
"We'll be monitoring Steve's recovery but at this stage we expect it to be a three-week injury."
 
Gene Fairbanks or Julian Huxley are the leading candidates to cover for Larkham at flyhalf.

Meanwhile, more bad news on the injury front for the Brumbies after vice-captain Al Campbell was ruled out for 8-10 weeks after sustaining a stress fracture in his foot.

However, skipper Stirling Mortlock is expected to be back for this week's clash with the Bulls in Canberra on Saturday night. The Wallabies centre missed last week's match against the Hurricanes due a head knock he receieved in the round-three Investec Super 14 match against the Reds.