Wales issue a medical update confirming 2 players definitely out

Injury-stricken Wales have issued a Wednesday morning medical update that has ruled WillGriff John and Will Rowlands out of contention to play against the Wallabies in this Saturday’s Autumn Nations Series finale in Cardiff. It was Tuesday when assistant coach Jonathan Humphreys described it as highly unlikely the pair would be involved and official confirmation of this disappointing prognosis has now arrived.     

“Wales can today confirm that Scarlets’ WillGriff John and Dragons’ Will Rowlands have been released from the national squad,” read a statement from the WRU. “Both players suffered a concussion in Sunday’s victory over Fiji and won’t feature in the final Autumn Nations Series test against Australia on Saturday.”

Prop John and lock Rowlands and prop John suffered head injuries during Wales’ 38-23 victory over Fiji in Cardiff last Sunday but they weren’t the only injury doubts Wayne Pivac is juggling this week. 

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Tomas Francis, another prop, is following return-to-play protocols after being concussed in training last week and wing Josh Adams, who was withdrawn from the starting line-up just before kick-off against Fiji due to a calf muscle issue, is also being monitored.

The Wales casualty count for the series is more than 20. However, Humphreys admitted on Tuesday that while this back-drop has proven challenging, it won’t hamper their bid for a third successive victory over Australia.

"World Rugby must be extremely thankful that the experienced TMO stopped a couple of real howlers which could have materially changed the outcome of the match."
?? Former ref Paul Smith looks back at #walvfijihttps://t.co/o94pNRgfle

— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 15, 2021

“There is a team here who are battered and bruised off the back of the most challenging autumn that they have ever had,” he said. “We are just thinking about how we get the tank off empty to put up a show against Australia and go and win that game.

“Clearly, we would have wanted more people available to us, but from my point of view it has turned out very similar to the last autumn, where we found out a lot about people. There has been a lot of positives.”

Wales has been a happy hunting ground for playmaker James O'Connor, who made his maiden appearance there in the Wallabies' No 10 jersey a decade ago. #Wallabies #WALvAUS #AutumnNationsSeries https://t.co/Th44o3FnPD

— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 17, 2021