Northern | US

Wales' Gareth Anscombe ruled out of the World Cup


Gareth Anscombe suffers a World Cup-ruining injury. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
Comments
Comment

Gareth Anscombe is out of Rugby World Cup contention after sustaining an anterior cruciate ligament injury in Wales’ defeat against England on Sunday.

ADVERTISEMENT

Anscombe was forced off in the first half of Wales’ 33-19 defeat at Twickenham and was later seen on crutches on the sidelines.

“Gareth Anscombe is out of Rugby World Cup contention after sustaining an anterior cruciate ligament injury in the match against England yesterday,” read a Welsh Rugby Union statement.

“His prognosis and management with be determined following further specialist reviews. The Wales squad and management would like to wish Gareth the very best with his recovery.”

New-Zealand born Anscombe was capped by the All Blacks‘ Under-20 side before moving to Wales in 2015. Anscombe qualified for Wales through his Cardiff-born mother and won his first cap against Ireland in August 2015.

The 28-year-old played for Cardiff Blues before joining the Ospreys ahead of the new season. He had established himself as Wales’ first-choice fly-half during their 2019 Grand Slam-winning campaign.

Anscombe has won 27 caps, but now misses out on the chance to represent Wales in Japan. Dan Biggar is the obvious candidate to reclaim Wales’ No10 shirt – he has won more than 70 caps and scored almost 350 Test points – with Rhys Patchell and Jarrod Evans also options.

ADVERTISEMENT

https://www.instagram.com/p/B1BwiTfAl9t/

Wales continue their World Cup warm-up Tests against England in Cardiff next Saturday, which is followed by home and away appointments with Ireland.

Head coach Warren Gatland is due to name his final 31-man World Cup squad on September 1, 22 days before a tournament opener against Georgia in Toyota City.

– Press Association

WATCH: Part one of Operation Jaypan, the two-part RugbyPass documentary on what the travelling fans can expect to experience in Japan at the World Cup

Video Spacer

Stream Nations Championship 2026 LIVE

Hemispheres collide in the new Nations Championship. Stream live, replays and highlights free on RugbyPass TV.

Watch on RPTV
Starts 4th July 2026 - USA only.
ADVERTISEMENT
Play Video
LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Long Reads

Comments on RugbyPass

P
Phantom 1 hour ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

Fact: the gap between the North and the South has narrowed considerably - that I get. However, determining that only selecting only Home grown players or playing in the home country is is the optimal strategy is a bit of a toss up and highly reliant on the economies of the home union. I do understand that England and to a lesser degree Ireland selects home based only. The top 14 is a massive threat to their domestic product. France would probably not be affected (the money is at home). Fiji, Argentina, Samoa, Italy and you could even argue Scotland have only benefitted from this. Their players either go overseas to learn at higher levels (Fiji, Samoa, Argentina) or players coming into their leagues to strengthen the home product and their National teams (Scotland, Italy, Japan).

South Africa used to limit its selection to the home based players, but the reality of a weak currency vs what players could earn oversees meant that you lost access to your best players at some stage of their careers, with very few exceptions. Kolbe left SA as he was considered too small for International Rugby (yes coaches/selectors view), but ironically in France he forced selectors to notice his endeavors and select him. He is only reaching 50 caps now despite being north of 30 - granted rotation and the odd injury also played a role, but for the most part it is having debuted or becoming a regular so late.



...

18 Go to comments
Close Panel
Close Panel

Edition & Time Zone

{{current.name}}
Set time zone automatically
{{selectedTimezoneTitle}} (auto)
Choose a different time zone
Close Panel

Editions

Close Panel

Change Time Zone

Copied to clipboard

Share Article close