The former footballer Paul Gascoigne’s injuries famously didn’t come in threes. They came in 33s, according to the man himself.
What of Wayne Pivac?
The list of Welsh players who would be unavailable if Wales played tomorrow is long — too long to guarantee the head coach a good night's sleep, with no fewer than 17 names on it.
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Some of those are expected to recover sooner rather than later, but there is a core of individuals who can already be ruled out of the Tests with New Zealand, Argentina, Georgia and Australia.
And there are still matches to be played before Pivac brings his squad together.
Anyway, here are the names of those currently off limits.
Liam Williams
It’s no-go for Williams with Wales this autumn.
Indeed, he could be a non-starter for the rest of the year with the shoulder injury he sustained playing for Cardiff against Munster in round one of the BKT United Rugby Championship. You can read about Williams receiving crushing news here.
Cardiff estimate he'll be out for 12-16 weeks in the days after the bump, which happened on September 17.
Owen Lane
Touch and go whether he would have been in the squad, anyway, though he is a handful with ball in hand.
But an ankle injury means the question is academic.
He’s set to be unavailable for 10 weeks from the time the problem flared up.
Josh Navidi
Like Liam Williams, Navidi is a Wales front liner.
Well, when he’s fit he’s usually there or thereabouts for a place in the run-on side.
Sadly for him, injuries have bedevilled him over the past year and he’s started just three Tests.
He’s on Cardiff’s medium-to-long-term casualty list with what’s described as a ‘neurological neck injury’. Navidi himself simplified the matter by calling it a bulging disc.
The back rower seemed optimistic in late September that the problem wouldn’t linger, albeit while saying “it’s slow and steady at the minute”.
Safe to file him as a concern, then.
Johnny Williams
Williams had begun the season as Welsh rugby’s in-form centre, regularly breaking the gainline and causing opponents problems with his strong running.
But a calf injury suffered in the Scarlets’ defeat against Benetton leaves his hopes of featuring for Wales at all this November in doubt.
"He's going to be out for a while,” said the west Walians’ head coach Dwayne Peel. “ I don't think he'll be ready for the start of the autumn internationals.”
Tom Rogers
Started the campaign with a bright display against the Ospreys, seamlessly moving to full-back after an injury to Johnny McNicholl. Rogers has aerial skills and is quick and likes to counterattack, while he isn’t afraid to jackal.
But a hamstring injury in training has put him on the sidelines.
The word he is shouldn’t be out for much longer, mind.
Dan Biggar
Wales’ captain limped off during Northampton Saints’ win over Wasps at the weekend.
But it doesn’t appear there’s much to worry about.
"I think he's ok," Northampton team boss Phil Downson told BBC Radio Northampton. "He took a dead leg and he took something else, but I haven't chatted to the medics, so I wouldn't know exactly."
Justin Tipuric
The Ospreys’ captain has missed the last two rounds of BKT United Rugby Championship matches with a rib injury. The region’s head coach Toby Booth doesn’t believe the problem is anything to be alarmed about while stressing the Ospreys want to get Tipuric back to stay back.
“It’s a pain thing,” said Booth. “Rib injuries can be uncomfortable, because when you breathe in and breathe out, your rib cage moves.
“Justin has trained, which is obviously the first sign.”
Fingers crossed, then.
Gareth Anscombe
Spare ribs might just be the order of the day at the Ospreys right now.
Anything to improve on the damaged ones a couple of their players have sustained of late.
Joining Tipuric with a rib problem is Anscombe, who was on the wrong end of hefty ruck clearout which earned Glasgow Warriors replacement hooker George Turner a post-match yellow card.
Anscombe left the pitch in obvious pain a week last Saturday.
The Ospreys’ most recent fitness update, issued by coach Toby Booth, described Anscombe “as very sore” but also said the thinking was he wouldn’t be too long.
Alex Cuthbert
He injured a shoulder in South Africa with Wales in the summer and has yet to play this season.
Cuthbert did not seem the last word in gloom and doom when he appeared on the BBC’s Scrum V programme recently.
But if he’s going to stand any chance of facing New Zealand on November 5 he needs to play before then and he presumably needs to play well.
There’s a bit of a fitness race going on here, then.
Dan Lydiate
A late withdrawal from the Ospreys team to face Ulster.
No update has yet been issued on why he pulled out.
Sam Parry
Hasn’t featured so far this season with his region yet to reveal the reason for his absence.
Gareth Thomas
Took a nasty crack while attempting to make a tackle in the first minute for the Ospreys against Ulster on Saturday evening.
His involvement ended there.
Thomas faces a minimum of 12 days out under the new head injury protocols.
One of Wales’ standout players in South Africa in the summer, he missed the start of this term with a hamstring problem.
If all goes well, he could be back within a fortnight.
That said, layoffs from head injuries are notoriously difficult to predict.
Josh Adams
The wing began with a bright display against Munster and then went against the grain by performing well in a poor Cardiff team performance against Glasgow Warriors.
Jason Harries came into the side against the Scarlets and had an excellent defensive game, at one point dashing across field to help snuff out a home try-scoring threat with terrific work in the corner.
The hope is Adams will not be sidelined for long.
Leon Brown
The powerful Dragons prop is another one who’ll be beyond Wayne Pivac’s reach this autumn, with Brown having had surgery to correct a nerve problem in his neck.
He’s not expected to be seen on a rugby field until December.
Samson Lee
He’s a long-term casualty after rupturing an Achilles tendon while on tour in South Africa last March.
How many caps has he lost because of injuries?
How much could the Scarlets have done with him as they try to battle their way out of a difficult run?
But he’ll have to play a waiting game, probably until the new year, before he’s right.
Ashton Hewitt
He’s off limits this autumn after undergoing ankle surgery.
There’ll doubtless be more TV punditry work for Hewitt, with the wing an accomplished and articulate studio operator.
He’ll have to bide his time before returning to on-pitch matters.
Josh Macleod
The luckless back rower just keeps on getting injured.
Ever since Wayne Pivac told him he’d been picked to win his first cap for Wales against Scotland in 2021 it’s been one bump after another.
This time it’s a head knock, sustained in the first minute against Benetton a week last Saturday.
It was supposed to be a celebratory occasion as the still uncapped Macleod was making his hundredth appearance for the Scarlets.
But it didn’t turn out that way.
He’ll be working his way through return to play protocols.
The rugby gods should give him an even break.
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