It got a bit lost in the shock and recrimination of the Wallabies’ defeat against Fiji but the losses of Taniela Tupou and Will Skelton to soft tissue injuries last week was a potentially fatal blow for Australia’s World Cup campaign.

Not just because Skelton is both the captain and the side’s best player, closely followed by Tupou. But also because Eddie Jones had finally settled on a “power” game strategy for the tournament, based heavily on the set-piece and carrying strength offered by the 275 kilogram duo.

Jones admitted on a podcast this week the currency to victory at this World Cup is the power of contact-zone behemoths, with the game now like a “mini NFL”, with 30-second bursts and 70-second stoppages.

Sure enough, without Skelton and Tupou, Fiji out-muscled the Wallabies and the inexperience of an undersized Australia did the rest.

Neither will play against Wales, and given both are big men, they won’t be back before a quarter-final at the earliest – if Australia qualify. Jones says he is now working up new tactics.

So the question has to be asked: how did Skelton and Tupou succumb to soft tissue injuries at training? And more importantly, why does it keep happening in the Wallabies?

Since the start of the Wallabies’ Test season last year in June, injuries at training have piled up with abnormal regularity.

Some, like Max Jorgensen’s broken leg, fall into the unlucky category. The unfortunate reality of a contact sport, where training intensity must match game intensity to be successful. Mostly, concussions at training also fall into the category.