One of the heroes of Wales’ historic victory over New Zealand at the World U20s Championship has been left with a fractured jaw which has ended his tournament.
Utility back Sam Costelow suffered the injury during the second half of yesterday’s dramatic 8-7 triumph against the Baby Blacks in Rosario.
The damage was done in a bone-shaking collision with Kiwi winger Leicester Fainga’anuku as the two players came together following a chip over the top by Wales fly-half Cai Evans.
After receiving lengthy treatment, the 18-year-old Costelow was helped off the field with blood coming from his mouth.
It’s now emerged that he sustained a fractured jaw in the incident which means the end of his campaign.
He will now miss Wales’ final match, the fifth-place play-off against England, which will be played at the same Racecourse Stadium in Rosario on Saturday.
Normally a fly-half, the Leicester Tigers youngster was playing in the centre yesterday, having come on as a replacement for Max Llewellyn during the first-half.
He was injured just after the controversial incident where Kiwi replacement back rower Samipeni Finau was only yellow carded for a shoulder to the head of Wales full-back Ioan Davies. You can read about the furious reaction it sparked here.
English referee Christopher Ridley decided a sin-binning would suffice on the grounds that Finau brushed Davies’ shoulder first and that the Welshman’s height had dropped as he came to ground after fielding a high ball.
It’s a decision which has provoked huge debate and divided opinion, with many people taking to social media to argue it should have been a red card.
