Stirling Mortlock hit on Gareth Thomas

After the Welsh captain took Berrick Barnes out late with a hard hit, Aussie skipper Stirling Mortlock clearly had one thing on his mind. And as you can see in this clip, he executed it.

Revenge was the order of the day, and in the 22 min Thomas got hit hard by the bulky Wallaby center. The hit was fractionally late, but perfectly legal, if that makes sense. In other words, he was commited. Nothing wrong.

It could be the last time we see Thomas playing though unfortunately, as he feels that this injury could put him out for 6 weeks, thus ruling him out of the rest of the tournament. And considering that his career will probably come to an end after the World Cup ends, it would leave him stranded on 99 caps and one short of fantastic milestone.

The results of the scan on the damaged rib cartilage aren't available yet, but Thomas is fearing the worst.

Thomas told the Daily Star: "I've had a similar injury before. My gut feeling is that I'm out for six weeks.

"Waiting for confirmation is going to kill me but I think I already know the outcome.

"I'd never retire but, if I'm honest, they should be planning for the next World Cup so they shouldn't pick me."

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Gareth Thomas late hit on Berrick Barnes

Young Berrick Barnes made only his second appearance for the Wallabies against Wales on the weekend. In a game that the Aussies won comfortably in the end, Barnes played well, with some decisive breaks and good distribution.

After one of this excellent breaks and a great dummy, he offloaded to Matt Giteau and received a welcome to test rugby from Welsh captain Gareth Thomas. Late and hard, this hit should have resulted in a yellow card.

Totally uncalled for and I think the fact that Thomas got away with it has something to do with him being captain. For some reason the refs always take this into account when making decisions.

Horrible hit for the youngster Barnes after such a good break, but luckily for him and the Aussies he got up and carried on playing showing no ill effects.

Not great by Thomas though, and as you'll see, Australia got revenge.

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