Wales out-half Rhys Patchell is set to have his concussion assessed before the side head off for the Rugby World Cup in Japan on Wednesday.
The injury was picked up during the first
half of Wales’ 19-10 loss to Ireland at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday as he
attempted to tackle CJ Stander.
Patchell then went off the pitch and failed
a subsequent Head Injury Assessment, meaning he sustained his third concussion
in the past 12 months.
Speaking after the game Wales head coach
Warren Gatland confirmed that the Scarlets number 10 will undergo examination in
the next couple of days.
“We’ll talk to the medics and see how he feels over the next few days. He will be assessed over the next few days. We will see how he comes out of the next couple of days,” he said.
Patchell has been extremely unfortunate in
the past year on the injury front having suffered a serious hamstring injury along
with those three concussions.
However, despite his injury woes, he
impressed in the absence of Wales’ first-choice fly-half Gareth Anscombe and
Gatland has selected him and Dan Biggar as his two kickers for the tournament.
Depending on what happens over the next 48
hours Jarrod Evans, who was pipped to the 31-man squad by Patchell could be
brought in if things don’t go Patchell’s way.
Wales take on Georgia in their opening World Cup fixture on September 23rd and whether Patchell travels or not the team will have to be much better than they have been on late having lost three of their four warm-up games.
