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Confirmed: Wales face major rejig as 4 starters versus Ireland ruled out of Scotland match
By Liam Heagney
Dan Lydiate is set to miss the remainder of the 2020/21 season following his short-lived return to the Wales jersey in last Sunday’s 21-16 Guinness Six Nations win over Ireland. Uncapped since November 2018, the inclusion of Lydiate by Wayne Pivac to start against the Irish was a major talking point last week.
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However, the 33-year-old suffered an injury when chasing up an aerial kick and while he initially tried to play on, he exited on twelve minutes to be replaced by Josh Navidi. The Welsh camp have now confirmed the injury as an anterior cruciate ligament issue and he will now go for further assessment.
He isn’t the only Wales player ruled out of next Saturday’s round two Six Nations encounter away to Scotland as Tomos Williams (hamstring), Johnny Williams and Hallam Amos (head injuries) will also be absent.
A WRU injury update statement released on Tuesday lunchtime read: “Dan Lydiate has been released from the Guinness Six Nations squad due to an anterior cruciate ligament injury sustained in the match against Ireland at Principality Stadium. He will undergo a number of assessments and consultations in the coming days to establish the best course of management.
“Tomos Williams suffered a hamstring injury in the game against Ireland and is currently being assessed. He is ruled out of the fixture against Scotland on Saturday. Johnny Williams and Hallam Amos will also both miss the fixture due to head injury.”
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A win's a win. Here's our Wales player ratings #WALvIRE https://t.co/fstTEFGmMs
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Aside from the four definitely ruled out, Pivac has a number of other injury concerns. Centre George North scratched an eye during the second half on Sunday, Scarlets centre Jonathan Davies will again be missing at Murrayfield as he continues to nurse an ankle injury while Dragons centre Nick Tompkins, who came on for Williams, is struggling with a shoulder injury.
Wales boss Pivac endured a miserable first year in the job but he was finally able to celebrate a first major win of note after his injury-hit team held on for a dramatic success over the dogged 14 men of Ireland. Second-half tries from North and tournament debutant Louis Rees-Zammit, plus eleven points from the boot of Leigh Halfpenny, saw the hosts capitalise on Peter O’Mahony’s early dismissal in Cardiff.
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"Madness" is the way one headline put it, as a red card against Ireland helped under-siege Kiwi coach Wayne Pivac to his best win in charge of Wales.https://t.co/lXRh123Gc4
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 7, 2021
