Wales decimated by injuries after Ireland win as four players already ruled out of next Six Nations match

Four of Wales’ starting XV have already been ruled out of next weekend’s match against Scotland having sustained injuries in the win over Ireland.

Wayne Pivac’s side have been left battered following a bruising 21-16 victory at the Principality Stadium and it will have ramifications for the trip to Murrayfield on Saturday, February 13.

The short turnaround will really hamper Wales, with Johnny Williams and Hallam Amos out of contention for the next match having failed head injury assessments on Sunday afternoon.

Concussion return-to-play protocols dictate that six days’ rest is not enough time to return to action.

Scrum-half Tomos Williams pulled his hamstring at the end of the first half and Pivac has already ruled him out, while Dan Lydiate has suffered a suspected knee ligament injury which could keep him sidelined for some time.

“We’ve picked up a few injuries so we’re looking at those now, we’ll make a better assessment [on Monday]”, head coach Pivac said.

“We’re sort of counting the walking wounded after that one.

“The six-day turnaround means certain players won’t be playing for us, two with the head knocks [Johnny Williams and Hallam Amos]. Six-day turnaround means any head knocks, you’re gone.

“Unfortunately we lose a couple of players straight away. We’ll see how the rest of the squad is [on Monday] and look at what sort of side we can put together on Tuesday.

“Johnny Williams went off for a HIA and didn’t come back on. The other one was Hallam Amos who took a late knock too. Those are the two head knocks.

“Then we’ve got a hamstring for Tomos Williams – we’re hoping that’s not serious but it won’t turn round in six days, I wouldn’t have thought.”

On Lydiate, Pivac added: “We’re going to get that scanned but it’s not looking too good. It could be an ACL but we’ll get that scanned for a definite result.

“It’s very disappointing for Dan and he’s very disappointed in the changing room right now.”

Pivac will now consider whether calling in extra bodies, with his backline options already limited with Jonathan Davies out injured and Josh Adams suspended for the Scotland clash.

The good news is Liam Williams will be available and is certain to come back into the starting XV, having served his three-match suspension for a red card he picked up while on Scarlets duty.

Meanwhile, George North was in the wars after getting a poke in the eye which led to a momentary loss of sight, while Nick Tompkins took a knock to the shoulder in what was a demanding Test match.

“George played on through a couple of injuries, he played on through a finger in the eye,” said Pivac.

“He lost a bit of sight there for a moment, I think there was a bit of haziness. We’ll get that checked out.”

Concluding, Pivac did not rule out calling in reinforcements to help preparations for Scotland.

He added: “We’ll get more of an update [on Monday] but I’ve had the initial update.

“We’ll go away now and look at next cabs off the rank, if you like, and what we’re going to need to get through the training week for this particular game but we’ll get more information over the next 24 to 48 hours.”