Advertisement
Allen had a first half hat-trick, but now his World Cup is over. AP/Press Association Images
How's your luck?

Wales suffer yet another big injury as hat-trick hero Allen tears hamstring

Cory Allen is put of the tournament, while Gatland may have to call up a prop.

WALES BOSS WARREN Gatland is counting the cost of his side’s 54-9 win against Uruguay this afternoon, with the news that hat-trick hero Cory Allen has torn a hamstring.

The centre looked electric in scoring a trio of first half tries, but his World Cup now looks to be over, with Gatland confirming after the match that he will have to call up a replacement.

“The medics said it looks like Cory’s the one who has a significant tear in his hamstring and at this stage it looks like he will definitely need to be replaced,” he said.

On top of Allen’s injury, Gatland also saw props Samson Lee – who was returning from a long-term achilles injury – and Paul James limp off, while Liam Williams and Dan Lydiate also departed with knocks.

While Williams and Lydiate’s injuries don’t present a major concern for Gatland, he says decisions must be made on his front row options in the coming day.

“Looks like Cory Allen’s done a significant hamstring injury and will be scanned tomorrow and Liam Williams had a knock on the thigh.

Britain Rugby WCup Wales Uruguay Alastair Grant Alastair Grant

“Samson Lee and Paul James got tight calves. Dan Lydiate has been assessed and passed that, which is good and he will take a full part in training this week. I’m all right.”

“We may have to make some tough decisions with the props; at the moment we’ve only got three and we may need to make a difficult call and replace one of the props. But we’ve got 24 hours to make a decision on that,” he added.

The latest injury setbacks come after Leigh Halfpenny and Rhys Webb suffered serious injuries during the warm-up games, while they also saw Eli Walker pull out of the tournament last week with a hamstring injury.

However, Gatland has defended the long pre-season camps in Spain, Poland, Qatar and Austria, saying injuries are just part of the game.

“I don’t think we look at the preparation. I think we’re in good shape. Sometimes you get a little bit of bad luck and we feel like that at the moment. If Cory Allen’s pulled a hamstring, and with the others you think, well, three or four days’ knocks, that’s what happens to these people. I don’t think I need to blame the preparation.”

“(Leigh) Halfpenny and Rhys Webb getting injured in the first game, they were just unlucky. That’s what happens in this sport and we felt we were very happy with the way we trained and just unfortunate we got a few knocks but that’s rugby, that’s sport, that’s professional sport, and there’s no doubt we’ll get a few more,” he said.

Henshaw on track to feature in Ireland’s World Cup clash with Romania

Japan’s shock win serves as an ‘alarm call’ for Sexton and Ireland

Your Voice
Readers Comments
16
    Submit a report
    Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
    Thank you for the feedback
    Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.