Australia's Pocock ruled out of Ireland match

Australia's star flanker David Pocock has been ruled out of Saturday's match against Ireland after aggravating an existing problem in his lower back at training on Friday.

Although not considered a serious injury the discomfort is enough that he has been ruled unfit to take the field in Australia's second Pool C match to be played at Eden Park in Auckland.

“It’s more of an on-going irritation than anything serious, said coach Robbie Deans. "Scans have shown nothing sinister, but David is a key member of our group. We would rather give him a bit of time to get it right before putting him back out there”.

Pocock will be replaced in the starting line-up by his Western Force teammate Ben McCalman who will start his first Test match in the openside flanker position.

Despite the loss of Pocock, a player widely regarded as one of the best in his position,

Deans said he planned to give McCalman a run in the position at some point during the pool phase anyway.

"We were looking to give him an outing on the open side before our pool programme concluded, it’s now just come a bit earlier than we’d originally planned.

"He is well suited to the role, being strong around the contact area and good over the ball, which is a legacy of his time in the Australian Sevens programme. He’s looking forward to the opportunity and we believe in him."

Wycliff Palu will be brought onto the bench which signals his return to the fold after a long battle with his own injuries. The hard running Palu has not played a match for the Wallabies since the 2009 spring tour of Europe.

The match between Australia and Ireland kicks off at 20:30.