Wales are refusing to allow a run of injuries their head coach, Warren Gatland, described as the worst he had ever known undermine their bid for World Cup success.
Wales are down to their third-choice full-back, Matthew Morgan, and their fourth outside-centre, Tyler Morgan, for the match against Fiji at the Millennium Stadium on Thursday evening while they have only two specialist wings left in the squad. However, they were at their most effective against England at Twickenham last weekend when three injuries in four minutes left them with a makeshift back division for the last quarter of an hour.
“I do not dwell on the injuries we have had,” said Gatland, who has lost five players from the original 31-man squad he announced a month ago, along with a replacement, Eli Walker. “I cannot change it so I do not think about the loss of the players. You have to move forward. We have made three enforced changes for the Fiji game but we have kept the same pack. Some of them were not 100% happy with their performance against England, so they have the opportunity to fix a few things. It is also a reward for them because we could have made some changes.”
It will be the biggest game in the careers of the two Morgans. Matthew, one of the smallest players in the tournament who weighs not much more than half of the prop Tomas Francis, will be making his first Test start after four appearances from the bench, while Tyler’s only other international appearance was against Ireland in a warm-up last month.
“One of the reasons Tyler did not make the squad originally was that he picked up an injury during a training camp,” said Gatland. “Otherwise there was a chance he would have made the 31. Matthew is not the biggest player in the world but we are confident he will step up and do a job for us.”
Matthew Morgan replaced Liam Williams, who was concussed during the victory against England and will be assessed over the weekend to see whether he will be available for the final group match against Australia. Tyler Morgan takes over from Scott Williams, whose tournament ended when he suffered a knee injury in a late tackle by Brad Barritt, and Alex Cuthbert takes over on the wing from another casualty, Hallam Amos, with George North switching sides. One of this week’s call-ups, James Hook, is on the bench.
“We have not talked about England this week,” said Gatland. “Our focus is on Fiji and we know how important the game is. We have to get a result to put us in the box seat a bit more.”
Fiji are without their two best wings, the suspended Nemani Nadolo and the injured Waisea Nayacalevu, while the scrum-half Nikola Matawalu has been dropped.
Wales M Morgan; Cuthbert, T Morgan, Roberts, North; Biggar, G Davies; Jenkins, Baldwin, Francis, B Davies, AW Jones, Lydiate, Warburton (capt), Faletau. Replacements Owens, Jarvis, Lee, Charteris, Tipuric, Williams, Priestland, Hook
Fiji Talebula; Nagusa, Goneva, Botia, Tikoirotuma; Volavola, Kenatale; Ma’afu, Koto, Saulo, Cavubati, Nakarawa, Waqaniburotu, Qera (capt), Talei. Replacements Veikoso, Ravia, Atalifo, Soqeta, Ravulo, Seniloli, Matavesi, Murimurivalu.
