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Wales star's welcome return balances teammate's less positive diagnosis
Wales received good news ahead of their busy 2021/22 season when fly half Gareth Anscombe emerged unscathed from his long-awaited injury return this weekend.
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However, this has immediately been offset by reports that Leigh Halfpenny will probably now miss his country’s entire international season.
The 30-year-old Ospreys no.10 played 37 minutes of his club’s pre-season game at Northampton, kicking a conversion before leaving the field as planned.
Anscombe first suffered a serious knee injury when representing his country in a World Cup warm-up game in August 2019.
He then aggravated the problem in October 2020 when it was announced he would need a further year out of the game.
Remarkably, Anscombe’s Franklin’s Gardens run-out was his Ospreys debut – more than two years after moving west from Cardiff.
It's been a long road to recovery for @Gareth_Anscombe, but after 761 days on the side-lines he finally made his return to the field?
Hear his thoughts after his first run out in an Ospreys jersey and his goals for the season ahead here? pic.twitter.com/kvPdL0dxGx
— Ospreys (@ospreys) September 10, 2021
Speaking after the final whistle the 27-times-capped no.10 told BBC Wales he now hopes to make his mark for the Swansea-based club.
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“I never expected it to take this long, I don’t think anybody did,” he said.
“It’s been a long hard road and now I look forward to playing some rugby throughout the year.
“To finally put on the boots and play 35 minutes is really pleasing.
“The knee has come out really well and hopefully it is the start of my journey with the Ospreys. All in all, I am pretty pleased and am just glad to get back out there.”
However, the Rugby Paper has reported that 33-year-old full back Halfpenny is now likely to be out of action until April.
Surgery done ?? Thank you for all of your kind messages of support over the last few weeks. Looking forward to overcoming the challenges ahead #roadtorecovery #rehablife ?? pic.twitter.com/uZv6p1NgO8
— Leigh Halfpenny (@LeighHalfpenny1) July 29, 2021
If this is the case then the three-time British & Irish Lion will not get the chance to add to his 96 Wales caps during the autumn series or 2022 Six Nations.
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Halfpenny suffered a bad knee ligament injury in the opening minutes of his country’s summer test against Canada two months ago.
Meanwhile another injured Wales back George North has posted videos of himself and Dan Lydiate during their rehab which it is believed will lead to a return to action during December.
Good beat and good people means knee rehab can be fun ??? https://t.co/zutDJDU2lQ
— George North (@George_North) September 2, 2021
Flanker Justin Tipuric is also expected to be back on the field late in 2021 following the shoulder injury he sustained with the Lions.
Comments on RugbyPass
The Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to comments