The Wallabies have confirmed Angus Bell will miss the Spring Tour with a foot injury.
Bell initially suffered the injury during the final Test of July's series against England, missing the majority of the Rugby Championship.
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He made his return in the final Bledisloe Test in Auckland, coming in for Scott Sio (hamstring), as the Wallabies fell 40-14.
However, Wallabies officials have confirmed Bell has further aggravated the injury and now requires surgery.
The 22-year-old will be pushing to be fit for the NSW Waratahs Super Rugby Pacific opener against the Brumbies on February 24.
"That’s the way the cookie crumbles," Bell said via social media.
"Been an amazing year with some awesome memories, I’ll be back."
With the Wallabies set to kick off their Spring Tour on October 30 against Scotland, Sio is one of the leading candidates to replace Bell, looking to prove his fitness as he joins new club Exeter.
"If, by the end of this week, he's getting over jetlag and he can do a full week's training next week, then he's going to be in and around the 23 pretty quickly," Exeter Director of Rugby Rob Baxter said earlier in the week.
"It's going to take us two or three days to get his training load correct and get him up and running. We're not going to select him just to injure him, but he's obviously a quality player - he was playing international rugby two or three weeks ago."
Rebels prop Matt Gibbon will get his chance to press his claims for a call-up with Australia A, selected to start in their second Test against Japan.
