Louie Hennessey suffers summer setback as Wales ambitions put on hold

Strong-running back Louie Hennessey has been ruled out of Wales’ entire Nations Championship programme due to the shoulder injury sustained in Bath’s Champions Cup semi-final defeat to Bordeaux.

Bath said that the centre/wing will ‘undergo treatment to his shoulder’ and is unavailable for the Tests against Fiji, Argentina and South Africa on consecutive Saturdays in July.

Hennessey, 22, fulfilled a boyhood dream when he came off the bench and made his Wales debut against Ireland in the Six Nations in March and was named in Steve Tandy’s Wales squad for the summer series.

It is a setback for the Cardiff-born player who was delivering consistent performances whenever given an opportunity in blue, black and white until picking up the injury.

One consolation for Tandy is that he has a number of physical options in midfield, including the uncapped Bryn Bradley, who Harlequins boss Jason Gilmore recently told RugbyPass has all the makings of being a ‘Test match animal’.

Meanwhile, Max Llewellyn is belatedly starting to show some form for Gloucester, Mason Grady can be used there, and Eddie James was one of Wales’ breakout stars of the Six Nations.