Better news for Horne as Australia shift focus to Wales

LONDON (Reuters) - Australia winger Rob Horne's shoulder injury is not as bad as feared and he will stay in the Wallabies World Cup squad while it is treated, defence coach Nathan Grey said on Monday. Horne was taken off in the 11th minute of the 33-13 victory over England on Saturday that secured Australia's place in the quarter-finals of the tournament. There were concerns that the 26-year-old might join Wycliff Palu and Will Skelton in being sent home from the World Cup because of injury but the prognosis had improved on Monday. "We've had the reports back on Rob Horne and they were better than expected, so we're going to just sit on that and wait and see how it unfolds," Grey told reporters at the team hotel. "The medical staff will be doing all they can. Results were better than they thought, so they will assess day by day. Other than that, everyone is pretty good." Having had a day to digest their dismantling of the hosts with a dominant performance at Twickenham, the Wallabies on Monday were turning their focus to Saturday's Pool A decider against Wales. The winners of the match will avoid the half of the draw likely to contain southern hemisphere powerhouses New Zealand and South Africa so victory could be vital to Australia's hopes of a third World Cup triumph. Even if the Wallabies have beaten Wales in their last 10 meetings, defence coach Grey said Australia would need another disciplined performance to come out on top. "We've looked at their set piece. Obviously we can't give away penalties, as Dan (Biggar) is such a successful goal kicker," he added. "So the key is to put them under pressure and then back away in the style that you want to play the game, and that's how our preparation will be. "Their scrum has been pretty solid. They've had a lot of injuries yet their performances have been consistent in the competition. They've had a break, so will be fresh." The Australian scrum ended up shunting the England pack around Twickenham on Saturday night but loosehead prop Scott Sio said it would be wrong to attribute their victory over the hosts entirely to their improvement in the set piece. "We knew we had to bring a level of consistency across our whole game, but it wasn't the be-all and end-all," he said. "We knew the set piece needed to build momentum, and for the backs to flow as a unit. You can get bogged down focusing on one area. It's been good that we've been able to prepare in all areas." (Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Justin Palmer)