Australian and Western Force loose forward Richard Brown will undergo shoulder surgery on Thursday, putting him out of contention for the Rugby World Cup starting in September.

Despite the disappointment, the decision means Brown - with 23 Wallaby caps - can be fully fit for the 2012 season and beyond.

He dislocated his right shoulder in the opening round of the 2010 season but played on, hoping he could ride out the injury and put himself in the frame for selection to play for the Wallabies in New Zealand.

Brown was able to earn further Test caps in last season's Tri-Nations and European tour plus an extra 15 Super Rugby games in 2011, notching up 50 Western Force appearances in the process.

"I wanted to give myself every opportunity to play at the World Cup and I tried to push through it for as long as I could but the time has come where it's just not an option anymore," Brown said.

"It's disappointing but I need to get it done now to make sure I'm ready for next season and get back to playing my best."

Force Coach Richard Graham said Brown had done all he could to contribute to the club and put himself in a position to contest a place at the World Cup but knew surgery was going to be inevitable.

"It's certainly unfortunate that the injury has ruled Richard out of the World Cup. He had worked extremely hard over the past 17 months and was a strong performer for both the Emirates Western Force and the Wallabies during that time," said Graham.

"However, there was always going to come a point that he would need to have it done.

"He'll now have the required time to recover and build his fitness back to its peak ahead of next season," Graham added.

Brown is expected to be able to return to team training in about four months.

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