Pivac arrives home in New Zealand with message for Gareth Anscombe fans about next July's Wales tour

New Wales boss Wayne Pivac arrived home in New Zealand this week to tell Kiwi-based television that Gareth Anscombe won’t be touring there with Wales next July. 

New Zealand-born Anscombe kicked the Welsh to Grand Slam glory last March but he has been sidelined since picking up a World Cup ruining-injury in a warm-up match last August away to England. 

It was thought he was on the road to recovery and would be back in action for Ospreys, the club he joined in 2019 from Cardiff, before the end of this season.  

However, that no longer might be the case following a complication in his rehabilitation that had left Pivac telling New Zealand rugby fans that Anscombe, along with recently Welsh-qualified Kiwi Willis Halaholo, won’t be touring their homeland in seven months’ time.

Ospreys had initially revealed Anscombe’s latest setback by issuing a recent statement. “As a result of Gareth’s progress plateauing in the last month, in conjunction with Gareth and his specialist, it was decided that a secondary minor procedure would be in his best interest, with the aim to allow him to progress and accelerate his rehabilitation in the new year.

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“Surgery went well and at this stage we’re ruling nothing out with regard to a possible return towards the end of the season. However we’ll be in a better position to clarify a realistic prognosis in the new year when he goes back to see the specialist’.”

Pivac was interviewed on his return to New Zealand for the holidays, telling TVNZ: “Gareth’s working his way back from an ACL injury, which has had its problems in the healing process.

The season of goodwill didn't apply across the board in Ireland on Monday as new coach Andy Farrell only met with media handpicked by the IRFU rather than accommodating all media
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“He’s looking like he’ll miss the tour to New Zealand, but the main thing is that he gets that knee right and gets back to 100 per cent of where he was before the injury.”

Another ACL victim was Halaholo, who suffered his injury playing for Cardiff just after he had been called into Pivac’s squad to face the Barbarians in November. “He ruptured his ACL, so that’s Willis gone for a season as well,” said the coach who has taken over from the long-serving Warren Gatland.  

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