Warren Gatland has been battling a growing Wales injury list ever since the end of the last domestic season, with the props Rob Evans and Nicky Smith on standby because of concerns over Paul James, Samson Lee and Aaron Jarvis as they prepare for Saturday’s Rugby World Cup Pool A match with England at Twickenham.
Here is a rundown of the players who have fallen by the wayside.
Jonathan Davies
It all begins on a foreign field. On 23 May, at Stade Yves-du-Manoir, Jonathan Davies injures his knee while scoring a try for Clermont against Montpellier. A few days later the news comes through that he has ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament. Brows furrow the world over, and in Wales dark mutterings are exchanged about strength in depth.
Rhys Webb
On Black Saturday – 5 September, Cardiff – Rhys Webb is the first to be struck down. Crouching over the ball, he becomes embroiled in a ruck against a powerful Italy in Wales’s final warm-up match, during which he is twisted and turned à la Jean de Villiers at the same venue nine months earlier. His foot catches in the turf, and he is taken off on a stretcher with foot and knee injuries. Wales’s player of the year, scrum-half and heartbeat is out of the World Cup. But more is to follow …
Leigh Halfpenny
The one that really sets Welsh hands wringing. In the second half of that Italy game, Leigh Halfpenny, with no one anywhere near him, plants his foot in the turf and collapses. His knee has given way. Another anterior cruciate ligament injury. Their full-back, the world’s deadliest goalkicker and the player of the Lions’ 2013 tour of Australia is out of the World Cup. Now the stuff about strength in depth flies out of the window. This is a full-on crisis. Shane Williams describes Wales as in mourning.
Eli Walker
So, you have lost a goal-kicking full-back and are down to your last two established centres. You summon a goal-kicking veteran of nearly 80 caps who can play fly-half, centre and full-back, don’t you? Apparently not. Warren Gatland chooses to summon not James Hook but Eli Walker, a specialist wing of some promise but just the solitary cap. Within a week of joining camp, Walker suffers a hamstring injury and is out of the World Cup. So now you summon Hook. Surely. Or maybe a hooker, to bring your squad in line with sensible practice. Richard Hibbard, say – all 40-odd caps’ worth of him. No. Ross Moriarty is summoned, a 21-year-old back-row forward with two caps to his name.
Cory Allen
Davies’s injury had opened the door to Cory Allen, the surprise inclusion in Wales’s squad announcement. Not that he should have been. Wales were replacing one bruising centre of skill and pace with another, albeit considerably less experienced. Faith in Allen was borne out by his performance in Wales’s World Cup opener on Sunday, when he scored a first-half hat-trick. Big, fast and skilful indeed. Too good to be true, almost. Sure enough, midway through the second half, he limped off with a hamstring injury. Out of the World Cup. Hook, then? No, Tyler Morgan is summoned, another from the fast/powerful/richly talented school. But 20 years of age and with one cap.
Liam Williams
If Halfpenny’s loss was a blow, it was mitigated by the presence of Liam Williams in the squad, together with Dan Biggar. The latter could take the kicks at goal, his facility for which regularly sees him top of the Pro12 points chart; the former could develop the career as an international full-back many feel is his just desert. In attack, he is a more threatening proposition than Halfpenny. But here’s the thing, he has been injured, out since a foot operation in June. Sunday’s opener against Uruguay was his first match since May. Naturally, he suffers an injury in it, picking up a dead leg, which forces him off before half-time. If he fails to recover, Wales will either have to replace him permanently (James Hook, anyone?) or place their trust in Hallam Amos (20, four caps) or Matthew Morgan (23, four) as their last line of defence. Even if he does recover, can they possibly start with Williams again on the back of 36 minutes since May?
Samson Lee
Wales’s injury problems hadn’t actually started with Jonathan Davies. Samson Lee’s achilles tendon snapped during a scrum in the Six Nations game against Ireland in March. He was ruled out for six months. That projection proves more or less accurate, with Lee fit a little earlier than thought, but too early to be risked in any of the warm-up matches. So they risked him against Uruguay instead. He made it to half-time when he was withdrawn with tightness in his calf. Even if he recovers in time for Saturday, can Wales possibly start him in a full-blown international against England on the back of 40 minutes since May? Especially when they may be taking a similar risk with Williams. If Lee’s not fit, they could turn to Aaron Jarvis …
Aaron Jarvis
… Except he popped a rib cartilage during the same match against Uruguay and played the final quarter in excruciating pain. It could leave Wales down to their last tighthead, Tom Francis. The reason Jarvis was on in the first place, though, was because of an injury to Paul James.
Paul James
Wales’s loosehead was forced off against Uruguay after half an hour with a calf strain. The worst-case scenario for Wales is that all three of the props injured in Cardiff on Sunday fail to recover, which would leave Gareth Jenkins and Tom Francis as the only fit props in their squad. Gatland has already mused that he may have to make a tough decision to replace one of his stricken props, just so he can fulfil the fixture by fielding the requisite number of front-row replacements. That would mean saying goodbye to one (or more) of the current injured, even if he is likely to miss just the one week.
Sam Warburton/Dan Lydiate
It seems churlish to mention, given they should be OK, but Sam Warburton and Dan Lydiate also left the field during what we must surely now call Black Sunday, the former with a tight groin, replaced in the second half by the latter, who leaves a little later with a head knock. Lydiate is said to be fine, and Wales are optimistic about Warburton. But that is about it on the optimism front, bar one other little detail. In light of the curse that seems to have been placed on their beloved national stadium, it may come as some relief to know that Saturday’s showdown is at Twickenham.
