Respective injury updates offered on Earls and Patchell
Warren Gatland insists Rhys Patchell will be “fine” to travel to the World Cup despite suffering his third concussion in a year in Wales’ 19-10 loss to Ireland in Dublin.
Fly-half Patchell failed a Head Injury Assessment (HIA) after being clattered attempting to tackle CJ Stander in the build-up to Ireland’s first try.
Head coach Gatland admitted Patchell will be assessed by the medics in the next few days, with Wales due to fly to Japan on Wednesday.
Wales have just two fly-halves in their 31-man squad, with Gareth Anscombe recovering from knee surgery and Patchell and Dan Biggar the two playmakers for the World Cup.
Asked if Patchell will be ready to travel to Japan, Gatland said: “He’ll be fine for that. He seems okay in the changing rooms now.
“He’s just got to be assessed in the next few days. We’ll talk to the medics about that and see how he fares over the next couple of days.”
Patchell has endured a wretched run of injury luck, having fought off two previous concussions and a torn hamstring across the course of the last 12 months.
“Ireland went back to what they’re really good at” #IREvWAL https://t.co/8BeDATLqow
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 7, 2019
The 26-year-old has acquitted himself well in Wales’ warm-up matches, but now faces a race against time to be fit for the World Cup opener against Georgia on September 23.
Asked if he had any concerns with just two fly-halves in his squad, Gatland said: “Well, we’ll see how he comes out of the next couple of days.
It's a very good goodbye from Joe Schmidt as he signs off from matches in Dublin with Ireland's win over Wales adding to his impressive fortress win ratiohttps://t.co/S6H379Jsev
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 7, 2019
“Yeah he definitely deserves some good luck because he’s gone well. And the ironic thing is that he went low and that’s often where the concussions happen, when players go low and the tackler gets hit by a knee or a hip.
“So that’s something we’ll have to keep watching on with World Rugby.”
Ireland were mightily relieved to find form and ease through with stellar half-backs Conor Murray and Johnny Sexton unscathed.
Rob Kearney, Tadhg Furlong and James Ryan bagged the tries as Ireland moved to the top of the world rankings.
Keith Earls suffered a possible thigh injury however, leaving head coach Joe Schmidt admitting the Munster star will need further assessments.
“With Keith, we’ve just got to wait and see if it’s okay tomorrow,” said Schmidt.
“He potentially could have played on, he feels like he could have but there’s no way in a game like that you’d keep him on.
“It just seemed like his quad, whether it’s a whack in the quad or just above the knee. He was uncomfortable.”
Comments on RugbyPass
A wallaby front-row of Bell, Blake and Tupou…now that would be hefty
1 Go to comments“But with an exceptional pass accuracy rating “ Which apart from Roigard is not a feature of any of the other 9s in NZ. Kind of basic for a Black 9 dont.you. think? Yet we keep seeing FC and TJ being rated ahead of him? Weird if it’s seen as vital to get our backline beating in your face defences.
1 Go to commentsThanks BeeMc! Looks like many teams need extra time to settle from the quadrennial northern migration. I think generally the quality of the Rugby has held up. Fiji has been fantastic and fun to watch
13 Go to commentsLets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
11 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
10 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
11 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
24 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
10 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
35 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
35 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
17 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to comments