Reece Hodge injury blow for Wallabies ahead of UK tour

Hodge was set to go for scans after suffering a pectoral injury 13 minutes into the Wallabies' tour-opening 32-23 win over Japan at Oita Stadium on Saturday.

The 27-year-old will tour with the rest of the squad when they fly to Europe on Sunday, facing a nervous wait having battled for so long to nail a place in the Wallabies' starting XV.

Quade Cooper will also be on the flight, with Rennie allaying fears the veteran flyhalf would not be able to join the rest of the group leading into a blockbuster trio of fixtures.

"The plan is [Hodge] will travel and we'll assess. We've obviously got a couple of weeks until we play Scotland, so that will buy us some time to get clarity around what we do," Rennie said.

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"We'll assess over the coming days."

Hodge was already covering for the loss of Tom Banks, whose hopes of touring were dashed when he suffered a broken arm against South Africa in the Rugby Championship.

Andrew Kellaway shifted to fullback in Hodge's absence, leaving Jordan Petaia and Tom Wright to occupy the wings for a team already missing Marika Koroibete.

Kellaway, Petaia and James O'Connor loom as the likely options to fill the No. 15 jersey leading into Australia's match against Scotland at Murrayfield Stadium on November 8 [AEDT], with games against England and Wales to follow in consecutive weeks.

There will be hope among some quarters Kurtley Beale is called upon for a Wallabies return following the successful comeback of Cooper at flyhalf.

But rather than reigniting the past, Hodge's absence could open the door for a glimpse into the future with Petaia a chance to earn a shot in the No. 15 jersey.

Wallabies selectors have earmarked Petaia as a potential long-term option at fullback but his chances in the position have been few and far between for the Queensland Reds in Super Rugby.

O'Connor has been tag-teaming with Cooper in the flyhalf role following his own return from injury, though he played little part against the Brave Blossoms during an unconvincing win to open the tour.

"We left James on the bench mainly because Jordie was on early," Rennie said.

"They're a very fast-finishing side traditionally, and we didn't want to empty the bench with 20 to go. Unfortunately that often happens and James was the one left on the pine for a little bit longer."

Rennie says Japan may soon be worthy of a place in an expanded Rugby Championship, "worthy of where they're sitting in the world" and "they're only getting better".

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