Mortlock and Larkham clear for Blues game

SYDNEY - The cavalry is making a timely return for the Brumbies, with star backs Stirling Mortlock and Stephen Larkham yesterday cleared to travel with the defending Super 12 champions to Auckland tomorrow.

First five-eighth Larkham, who missed the Brumbies' last two matches in South Africa, has recovered after an operation to remove a melanoma from behind his knee.

Captain and centre Mortlock, who was sidelined with a medial ligament knee strain suffered in the opening game against the Crusaders, was also expected to return to the side for Saturday's match with the Blues.

Should Larkham also be chosen, it would mean first-season Brumbies coach Laurie Fisher would be able to field his full-strength side for the first time in an injury-plagued season.

He started the Super 12 campaign without prop Bill Young, and subsequently lost almost all of his first-choice backline for at least one game.

Larkham and Mortlock apart, the Brumbies also lost the services at different times of second five-eighth Matt Giteau, fullback Mark Gerrard, winger Clyde Rathbone and centre Gene Fairbanks.

Despite being depleted, the understrength Brumbies still won their first four games before losing their unbeaten record to the lowly Sharks in Durban at weekend.

The only slight injury doubt on the Brumbies' roster was young back Adam Ashley-Cooper, who suffered an early-season hamstring injury.

However, a team spokesperson said he could still travel to New Zealand with the possibility of being fit for the match against the Highlanders on April 8.

Despite last weekend's loss, the Brumbies retained second spot on the ladder, though they fell six points behind the competition-leading Waratahs.

The matches against the seventh-placed Blues and the fifth-placed Highlanders will complete an arduous four-week run of away games.

* Reds skipper Elton Flatley remains in doubt for Queensland's upcoming tour of South Africa after losing his battle to play in Friday night's clash against the Highlanders at Ballymore.

Flatley was yesterday ruled out of the match after failing to fully recover from a head knock that also kept him out of the Reds' historic win over the Chiefs just over a week ago.

It was the first time Queensland had won a Super 12 match across the Tasman since 1999.

Flatley will now be racing time to get a doctor's clearance in a desperate bid to play a role in the Reds' two-week African adventure.

- AAP