Wales suffered a double injury blow as scrum half Rhys Webb looks likely to miss the Rugby World Cup with a suspected broken ankle and fullback Leigh Halfpenny suffered a knee injury against Italy on Saturday.
Webb, the Pro12 player of the season and the Welsh rugby writers’ player of the year, was trapped under a ruck midway through the first half and screamed in pain as his ankle was wrenched backwards.
After being treated on the pitch he was taken to hospital for an X-ray and was replaced by Gareth Davies.
If Webb is ruled out, it could open the door for a return for Mike Phillips, the British and Irish Lion who was culled from the squad last month.
Halfpenny also received oxygen on the pitch after pulling up and going to the ground clutching his knee 15 minutes from time.
Earlier in the match he had kicked five penalties, passing 500 points in Test rugby, and his superb goalkicking has been a key part of Wales’s success.
Wales captain Sam Warburton said: “Rhys Webb and Leigh Halfpenny are two key players. We haven’t got a clue of the extent of the injuries. They’ll be assessed over the next 24 to 48 hours and fingers crossed they’ll be good, because they’re huge players for us. We’ll just have to wait and see.”
Wales coach Warren Gatland confirmed Webb had been taken to hospital but Halfpenny was treated at the stadium.
Stuart Lancaster will make the short trip to watch Fiji play Canada at the Twickenham Stoop on Sunday in greater heart than two weeks ago after England responded to their Paris horror show with a defeat of Ireland.
On top from the start and showing just the attitude that the home fans demanded as the World Cup looms, England scored two excellent tries through wingers Jonny May and Anthony Watson and had another May effort chalked off for a forward pass.
Ireland rallied early in the second half, but England kept their control and discipline and two late penalties by replacement flyhalf Owen Farrell completed a 21-12 success.
“We really wanted to improve on that France performance and we did and it is a great building block for us,” said Lancaster, whose side face Fiji in their World Cup opener at Twickenham on September 18.
“The set piece was good, our field position was good and we closed the game out well and restricted Ireland’s opportunities.”
England were better all over the pitch than in their dire display in Paris, and the forwards looked far more aggressive than in either game against the French.
The new midfield partnership of Brad Barritt and Jonathan Joseph was remarkably successful given they had played together for only a few minutes previously while halfbacks Ben Youngs and George Ford were sharp.
It was the wingers who really caught the eye. Watson’s footwork was superb in the home win against France, but he impressed with his aerial prowess on Saturday, leaping above the normally spring-heeled Simon Zebo to catch Ford’s crossfield kick for England’s second try.
May showed another side to his game as the fastest man in the Premiership wentthrough rather than round British and Irish Lions winger Tommy Bowe, smashing him into the ground.
“The outside backs really delivered, not just in their finishing but also in dealing with Ireland’s aerial threat,” said Lancaster, who dropped May for the Six Nations but seems to have pencilled him ahead of Jack Nowell for a starting slot.
“I thought Jonny May was excellent. Ireland are so smart in their kicking game – sometimes he was up and sometimes back – they rarely found grass in the back field.”
Lancaster has less than two weeks to fine-tune his side for the tournament opener at Twickenham, with stiffer tests against Wales and Australia to come in a difficult Pool A.
Ireland coach Joe Schmidt says Conor Murray will be fit to start the World Cup despite suffering a concussion in the defeat . Schmidt defended his decision to gamble on selecting just two recognised scrum-halves in his final World Cup squad, despite the scare over frontline half-back Murray.
“Conor went through all the head injury assessments successfully, but because he was knocked down it was pertinent to leave him off the pitch so he sat it out,” said Schmidt, confirming Murray’s concussion.
“He’ll go through the return to play protocols which should see him fully fit for the start of the World Cup.”
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