Wales are hopeful their Lions centre Jonathan Davies will be fit to face Australia in Cardiff next week after a scan revealed he had not suffered a shoulder dislocation playing for Clermont Auvergne against Sale in the European Champions Cup last weekend.
Davies left the field after only 15 minutes and there was a fear he would miss all of Wales’s four Tests next month, having been involved for only 20 minutes in last year’s autumn programme. But tests showed that the problem is muscular and the 26-year-old has been ordered to rest this week.
He will be examined again at the start of next week when he hopes to be given the all-clear to resume full training before the match against the Wallabies, which has a heightened interest because the two countries are in the same World Cup pool next year, along with England.
“At this moment Jonathan is a worry,” said the Wales kicking coach, Neil Jenkins. “I have no doubt, though, given the medical staff we have, that he will be up and running by the beginning of next week and be available for Australia. The same goes for our other two centres who have had knocks, Scott Williams and Corey Allen. With a bit of luck, we will be at full tilt next week.”
The Wales squad had three days in camp this week before nine returned to their clubs in France and England, to return after the weekend. The head coach, Warren Gatland, has said his priority is making sure his squad is at its peak by the start of the World Cup and considerable emphasis has been placed on conditioning.
“We have worked incredibly hard,” said Jenkins. “The autumn games are huge for us and it would be good if we got across the line. We are trying to get ourselves in the best possible shape to beat Australia and we have got a fair squad with particular strength in depth in the back division.
“We have got an incredibly tough group in the World Cup, one we have to get out of. It means Australia, England or us will be going home early and that is why we have been doing a lot of work on conditioning while recognising that the Test matches coming up are huge for us.
“We want to win them and give ourselves the best possible chance at the World Cup. We know we can beat England at Twickenham, but we have not turned over Australia recently, even if we have come close on many occasions.”
Alex Cuthbert, one of 11 Lions Test players in Wales’s likely starting lineup against Australia, has taken a full part in training after recovering from a groin injury that kept him out of Cardiff Blues’ opening two matches in the European Challenge Cup.
“It has been a frustrating season for me because before getting injured I was not seeing a lot of the ball for the Blues,” said the wing. “My fitness is now getting back to 100% and it is all about getting back to my peak. When you come into camp with Wales, the environment is intense and there are few margins for error.”
While Cuthbert, whose two tries against England in Cardiff took Wales to the 2013 Six Nations title, has struggled for form, his wing partner George North got into shape for the autumn series by scoring four tries for Northampton against Ospreys last weekend.
“I hope he brings that form into the Tests,” said Cuthbert. “The feat of scoring four tries speaks for itself. When we sat down as a group at the start of the week we spoke about what a tough month we faced and everyone is upbeat about what lies ahead.
“It starts with Australia and we are not reading anything into their failure to win a game away from home this year and the fact they have changed their coach. They have been playing well and could have beaten New Zealand in their last game. They will be confident, but we know how we can beat them.”
A number of the Wales players and management attended a memorial service at Parc y Scarlets on Wednesday for Stuart Gallacher, the former Wales and Llanelli second row and chief executive of Regional Rugby Wales who died recently at the age of 68.
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