Bradley Davies is being summoned to join Wales’ Rugby World Cup squad as a replacement for Cory Hill.
Hill has been ruled out of the tournament by the injury that he developed before the group flew out to Japan.
The Dragons forward has been troubled by a stress fracture of a bone in his upper leg. Wales took a gamble on the 27-year-old recovering quickly, but they announced on Tuesday that his World Cup is over before it’s even begun.
Stepping in for him will be vastly experienced Davies.
Wales have had to move quickly as they are down to just two fit specialist second rows, with Adam Beard still recovering from appendix surgery.
Aaron Shingler covered the engine-room position from the bench in the 43-14 win over Georgia, but Warren Gatland's squad are just a bump away from a full-blown lock crisis — hence the decision to send an SOS to Davies.
The arrival of the 65-cap warhorse should ease the situation.
Injuries have restricted his squad involvement over the past year, but he trained with the group in the summer and is in the same second row pool as Alun Wyn Jones and Beard at the Ospreys.
Davies started in the win over England at the global tournament in 2015 and also featured in the World Cup knockout games against Ireland and France in 2011.
Wales’ decision to take only four second-row specialists to the Far East counted against him when the 31-man squad was originally named.
But the 32-year-old is heading out for his third World Cup, after all.
