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The latest injury update on Wales’ Aaron Wainwright, Liam Williams and more
By Finn Morton
Technical coach Rob Howley has been unable to confirm whether Aaron Wainwright, Liam Williams and four others will be available to take on the Wallabies in Wales’ second Test in Australia.
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With just a handful of days between now and Wales’ final Test match of the year, the visitors Down Under could still be dealt a major blow if the experienced duo of Wainwright and Williams are ruled out.
Wainwright, 26, played in his 50th Test last weekend as the Welsh went down swinging in a fierce battle with Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies in Sydney. But to make the fallout of defeat even tougher, the backrower limped off the field with 80 minutes and 37 seconds on the clock.
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The Welsh enforcer was by far the most experienced forward in last week’s starting side, with Ospreys prop Gareth Thomas second with 18 fewer caps. It’s a similar narrative in the backs if you consider the influence and potential loss of outside back Liam Williams.
Williams, who played a handful of matches for the British and Irish Lions across two tours in 2017 & 2021, is a 91-Test veteran who lined up at fullback in a backline that included uncapped winger Josh Hathaway and two-Test flyhalf Ben Thomas.
To put this all into context, Wainwright and Williams have 141 caps between them, while the other 13 players in last weekend’s starting side share 180 appearances.
“Aaron Wainwright, we’re waiting for further assessment. Liam Williams, hopefully, he will be available for selection,” Howley told reporters in Melbourne.
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“Gareth Thomas, a bit of a dead leg, back in training today. Josh Hathaway is being monitored. Obviously, it’s a bump on his arm. Then Dillon Lewis and Ben Carter, obviously they trained this morning with us.
“Fingers crossed they will be available for selection.
“We’re just waiting (for) an assessment on him,” he added when prompted about Wainwright in particular.
“I think he was outstanding in the game. His carries, his footwork, he got us on the front foot on many occasions.
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“So, hopefully, but we’re waiting for that assessment to come back from the medial team.”
Whether Wainwright and Williams line up for Wales remains to be seen, but those who do take the field will be supremely focused on the job at hand. Centre Owen Watkins made that very clear following Howley’s press conference on a cold and rainy Tuesday.
Warren Gatland’s men haven’t won a Test since beating Georgia 43-19 in last year’s Rugby World Cup pool stages. They’ve since lost to Argentina in their quarter-final, later gone winless in the Six Nations, and have been recently beaten by South Africa and Australia.
For those doing the maths and keeping track, that’s a run of eight losses which will extend to nine if they’re unable to avoid another defeat at AAMI Park. So, if Wainwright, Williams or any of the others are fit then rest assured they’ll be “available for selection.”
“At the end of the day it’s an important game. (There’s) huge disappointment and frustration within the camp,” Howley explained.
“It’s a second Test and we want to give the best version of ourselves.
“The game (in Sydney) on 68 minutes, it was a huge probably 90 seconds, two minutes which we unfortunately couldn’t stay in that arm wrestle.
“For us, it was huge disappointment in terms of the number of errors – unforced and forced – and particularly for the first half. The second half, the amount of possession we had towards the end of the game, the impact off the bench, it was excellent.
“We’ve just come up short.”
Wales can ill afford to lose Wainwright, who’s been their best player by a country mile.
This is just compounded misery, hard to watch.