WALES COACH WARREN GATLAND confirmed that his centre Scott Williams had come off the worse after he laid a big hit on Brian O’Driscoll in Ireland’s 26-3 win at Lansdowne Road.
Williams lined up O’Driscoll for a hefty tackle, moments after the Irishman shipped off a pass, as Wales looked to make an impact in the first half. The Irish 13 received treatment from team doctor Eanna Falvey for a minute before returning to play. Williams lasted five more minutes before trudging off, holding his shoulder.
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Gatland said, “With his shoulder, there’s a bit of soreness there. It’s in a bit of a sling at the moment. We need to get him checked out… I haven’t had a good look at it yet but it is a pretty physical game. You do get injuries every now and then.” Ireland coach Joe Schmidt said:
Our Doc was saying ‘Are you okay?’ and Brian was saying nothing… and when he finally could speak, when he finally got enough air in to speak he said ‘Yeah, I’m fine’. There was no problem with that at all and I thought the further and further the game went, the better he looked.”
Wales targeted the Irish midfield duo of Brian O’Driscoll and Gordon D’Arcy throughout the match but, one missed O’Driscoll tackle on Jamie Roberts aside, were repelled. “We wanted to get our wingers involved [inside] and lots of touches. The criticism for us is that we didn’t hold onto the ball and Ireland made it difficult for us by competing hard at the breakdown area,” said Gatland. “We needed to be better, particularly at the contact area. It’s something we work hard on and we haven’t been as sharp today as we normally are.”
Liam Williams replaced his namesake, Scott, soon after his ill-advised hit on O’Driscoll. He moved out to the left wing and his one noteworthy moment in the game arrived when he dropped an elbow on Paddy Jackson as he slid over for Ireland’s third try in the closing stages.
Gatland commented, “I didn’t see it but, whatever it is, I don’t condone foul play.” His captain, Sam Warburton, said, “I was competing. I was in a far ruck on the floor.”
Schmidt, for his part, was content to focus on the fact that Jackson will now get a fine from his teammates this evening after dotting down for his first Test try.
