ACT Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham's playing comeback was over before it even got off the ground on Saturday after the Australian rugby great felt a strain in his calf.
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Larkham will wait until Sunday morning before deciding if he will be unable to play any part in the inaugural Brisbane 10s tournament, with the Brumbies winning two of their three games on the opening day.
The Brumbies have to wait until the final round games to find out if they have done enough to earn a spot in the quarter-finals.
Larkham was set to suit up against French club Toulon, but injured his calf in the warm up and sat out the rest of the day.
In his absence, 43-year-old dual international Andrew Walker stepped up as the cool head for the Brumbies as they beat Toulon and South Africa's Blue Bulls.
The Brumbies lost their opening game to the Otago Highlanders before Walker turned back the clock to show some brilliance and even put his body on the line to stop some runaway men almost double his size.
"All the boys are talking about him, he's still got it," Larkham said.
"He's one of the all-time Brumbies greats and he's showing the guys how to communicate and encouraging them, that's what we wanted to rub off this weekend.
"I felt my calf [on Friday] and then again in the warm up. But we'll see how it goes overnight and then see if it's any better."
Walker finished his comeback with a cut underneath his left eye after trying to tackle one of the biggest players in the tournament, 108 kilogram battering ram Josua Tuisova.
"I learnt a lot of rugby [in Canberra] and putting the jersey back on brings back some great memories. I hope [the other players] see how much I love putting the jersey on," Walker said.
"The concept of 10s is fantastic. I don't even know how 10s works ... but you just throw the ball around and try not to get tackled.
"Trying to stop that big No. 14 [Tuisova]. They told me he's a bus, but he's a bus with a semi-trailer on the back of it. I tried to stop him, I slowed him down as a speedhump. [The cut] is a little thing to say 'welcome back'."
The Brumbies lost to the Highlanders 14-7 in the first game, then beat Toulon 10-0.
They came from behind in the final minute to beat the Bulls, with hooker Robbie Abel scoring and Isaac Thompson nailing a conversion from out wide to steal a 7-5 win.
The tournament was a chance for players to press their claims for round-one Super Rugby selection, including winger Nigel Ah Wong after he returned from a stint in Japan.
Wong was gasping for air after going from sub-zero temperatures in Japan to the Brisbane heat, but he's hoping he can force his way into selection contention
Ah Wong has spent the past six months in Japan playing for Suntory, helping the club win the All-Japan championship just two weeks ago.
The temperature in Tokyo has been stuck in single digits and dropping below zero overnight, so 26-year-old Ah Wong got a rude shock in Brisbane's 37-degree heat and 60 per cent humidity.
Ah Wong will compete with James Dargaville, Andrew Smith and Tom Banks for a spot on the wing after Lausii Taliaulii suffered a season-ending knee injury two weeks ago.
"I felt like I slotted back in pretty easily. But I really enjoyed learning in Suntory, particularly off guys like George Smith," Ah Wong said.
"I'm very happy to be back home and getting ready for this Super Rugby season with the Brumbies."
The Brumbies will find out on Sunday morning who their next opponent is at the Brisbane 10s.
AT A GLANCE
OTAGO HIGHLANDERS 14 (James Lentjes, Rob Thomson tries; Marty Banks 2 conversions) bt ACT BRUMBIES 7 (Nigel Ah Wong try; Isaac Thompson conversion); ACT BRUMBIES 10 (Blake Enever, James Dargaville tries) bt TOULON 0; ACT BRUMBIES 7 (Robbie Abel try; Isaac Thompson conversion) bt BLUE BULLS 5 (Johnny Kotze try). The tournament continues on Sunday.
SUPER RUGBY ROUND ONE
February 25: Canterbury Crusaders v ACT Brumbies in Christchurch, 5.35pm.
