Wales second-row Cory Hill has been sent home from the Rugby World Cup in Japan following a failure to recover from injury.
The Dragons star went to the tournament while recovering from a stress fracture in his fibula and has returned to Wales to receive further treatment.
Hill will be replaced in the 31-man squad by Bradley Davies who was preparing for the Ospreys’ PRO14 opening game this weekend, but will now join the squad in Japan on Wednesday.
Despite Davies linking-up with the squad Wales will still only have three locks available for selection when they face the Wallabies on Sunday in their second Pool D game as Adam Beard continues to recover from surgery that saw his appendix removed recently.
This will be Davies’ third appearance at a World Cup as the 32-year-old will hope to hit the ground running.
In other Welsh squad news, head coach Warren Gatland has admitted that centre Hadleigh Parkes has picked up a “bit of a bone fractureâ€? in his hand, but he believes that the injury won’t stop him missing any game time.
Wales got their World Cup off to the perfect start yesterday when they defeated Georgia 43-14, but they will need to pull themselves together quickly as they prepare to play the Wallabies on Sunday in what could be the game that decides who finishes top of Pool D.
