Rugby World Cup: Injury troubles continue to haunt Wales against Uruguay

Six players added to injury list.

Gareth Davies of Wales scores his teams sixth try. Getty Images

The injury woes that beset Wales in the run-up to the Rugby World Cup returned with a vengeance during their tournament opener against Uruguay on Sunday with six players added to the casualty list.

Centre Cory Allen, who scored three of Wales’s eight tries in the 54-9 Pool A victory, fullback Liam Williams, props Paul James, Samson Lee and Aaron Jarvis as well as flanker Dan Lydiate all suffered injuries.

A “significant” hamstring injury means Allen is likely to be replaced in the squad but coach Warren Gatland admitted he would have a “tough decision” to make with so many props going down less than a week before a crunch match against England.

“We’re carrying five props and at the moment we’ve only got three who can take the field,” he told a news conference.

“We have to have four, so we may have to make a difficult call and replace one of the props.

“Liam Williams got a knock on the thigh, Samson Lee and Paul James have got tight calves and Dan Lydiate had a head assessment and has passed that so he’s able to take a full part in training next week,” Gatland added.

“Aaron Jarvis actually popped a rib cartilage as well, nothing that’s too serious but he was in quite significant pain.”

Williams had been rushed back from a foot injury to replace Leigh Halfpenny, who was ruled out of the tournament along with first-choice scrumhalf Rhys Webb after Wales’s final warm-up match against Italy.

Playing his first game since undergoing an operation to repair a broken bone in his foot in June, Williams started limping halfway through the first half and was ushered off in the 34th minute.

With Halfpenny’s squad replacement, winger Eli Walker, also subsequently ruled out of the tournament by a hamstring injury and replaced by flanker Ross Moriarty, the loss of another back three player would be a big blow.

James only lasted half an hour before being replaced, and Lee, who has recovered from an Achilles rupture, scored his country’s first try of the game but failed to appear for second half.

Gatland, who came under fire for playing Halfpenny in the Italy match, said it would be wrong to blame squad preparations for the injury glut.

“I don’t think we look at preparation, we know we’re in good shape. Sometimes you just get a little bit of bad luck,”

“Look at Leigh Halfpenny and Rhys Webb getting injured, they were just unlucky, it happens in this sport,” he added.

“We felt very happy with the way we prepared and trained, but unfortunately we’ve picked up a few knocks but that’s rugby, that’s professional sport, there’s no doubt we’ll pick a few more.”

Uruguay coach Pablo Lemoine said his side had been inspired by Japan’s historic win over South Africa.

The Springboks fell to a stunning 34-32 defeat by Japan on Saturday in the biggest upset in World Cup history.

“Of course it was an inspiration,” Lemoine said after watching Uruguay lose at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium.

“In the last 20 days, we have been in Japan playing two Tests. We feel we can play at the same level.

“Of course Japan have much better players and a big structure and played to a good level over the last five or six years, but that result inspired all tier two countries. I’m sure about that.”