Wayne Pivac has revealed he wasn’t prepared to gamble on the fitness of Ross Moriarty for his Wales side's clash with the Barbarians at the Principality Stadium on Saturday.
The new Wales coach said the back-row powerhouse picked up an infection while helping his country to a fourth-place finish at the Rugby World Cup.
“He got some bad grazing over in Japan on his forehead and is still getting himself 100 per cent right,” said Pivac.
“He’s been pretty rundown and picked up a bad cold and then a chest infection.
“So he hasn’t been able to do the training required for us to put him out there without risking injury.”
World Cup revelation Aaron Wainwright starts at No.8 with line-out specialist Aaron Shingler at blindside flanker and skipper Justin Tipuric on the openside.
