Il Nuovo Postiglione - Australian prop Bell set for long sideline stint with foot injury

Bell appeared to suffer a recurrence of a serious toe ligament injury, Coleman said, during Saturday night's 40-16 Super Rugby loss to the ACT Brumbies in Canberra.

The same injury sidelined the world-class loosehead for five months last year.

Coleman was fearful Bell will miss the remainder of the Waratahs' campaign and Australia's Rugby Championship games in August and September.

"It doesn't look good, it looks like the same toe injury he suffered in round one last year. He's pretty devastated," Coleman told reporters.

Bell had left the ground visibly distraught.

"There wasn't much talking -- a bit of hugging and crying. He's pretty shattered by it all.

"We'll hold out a little bit of hope. The doctor said the 'pop' that he felt may have been something different, but at the moment it looks scarily like his last injury. If it is the same injury, it'll be season over."

The mobile front-rower is regarded as one of the best young players in Australia, although injury has restricted Bell to 28 Test appearances since his debut in 2020.

He recovered last year in time for the Wallabies' disastrous World Cup campaign in France, in which they failed to reach the knockout phase for the first time.

It is another blow for the Waratahs, who have lost six of seven games. They also face a mounting injury toll ahead of a tough run of fixtures.

Coleman admitted his team were outplayed by the Brumbies, who have only lost once and sit level with two New Zealand teams -- the Wellington Hurricanes and Auckland Blues -- atop the standings.

"Their error rate was non-existent and some of their ball movement to get it into the right guy's hands and score was exceptional," Coleman said of the Brumbies, who defied wet conditions to score four tries.

"Hats off to them, that was by far the most clinical and best team we've played this year."

A.Rastelli--INP