Wales have warned their Lions hooker Richard Hibbard that he will jeopardise his international future if he takes his place on the Gloucester bench against Harlequins at Kingsholm on Friday having been released from the national squad earlier this week because he had a foot injury.
Hibbard suffered the injury during last weekend’s match against Australia and, after not being able to train on Monday and Tuesday, when his foot was in a moonboot, he was not considered for Saturday’s match against Fiji and was, under International Rugby Board regulations, released back to Gloucester.
The Cherry and Whites have named him on their bench for the Premiership encounter with Harlequins because Alex Lutui was on international duty with Tonga, leaving David Dawidiuk as their only other senior hooker.
“I understand that Gloucester have some problems at hooker, but if Richard takes the field of play [against Harlequins] he will jeopardise his place against New Zealand next week from a fitness point of view,” said the Wales forwards’ coach, Robin McBryde. “He is on their bench and that means he has been deemed fit because he could have to play for 80 minutes. There is no such thing as just providing cover. We trust our medical team 100%: Richard was not able to train on Monday or Tuesday and was therefore ruled out of selection. Something is not right and what that is is not for me to comment on.
“You have to take responsibility for your actions at the end of the day and I am sure nobody is holding a gun to his head. We have a match tomorrow and the two hookers involved, Scott Baldwin and Emyr Phillips, have been playing particularly well so we will see what pans out. Richard is jeopardising his position and we have to leave it at that at the moment.”
The 32-cap Hibbard will not be available for Wales’s final match this month, against South Africa, because it falls outside the official Test window and Premiership Rugby’s rule is that no non-England players are released for so-called fourth internationals. The Wales head coach Warren Gatland has long warned his players about the consequences of playing for English clubs and last month left a couple out of his squad; Gloucester’s James Hook and Saracens’ Rhys Gill, although the former was recalled this week as injury cover.
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