Rugby World Cup: Wales worry over Anscombe and Williams
- Published
Gareth Anscombe appears to be in pain as he holds his right knee at Twickenham
Wales have injury worries over fly-half Gareth Anscombe and scrum-half Tomos Williams after their World Cup warm-up defeat by England.
Anscombe and Williams will both have scans on Monday, for knee and shoulder injuries.
Anscombe 28, had to come off because of his knee in the 33-19 loss at Twickenham, while Williams, 24, was a late withdrawal.
Flanker Justin Tipuric, 30, limped off with an ankle problem but should be OK.
Ospreys' Anscombe was helped off late in the first half and later seen on crutches on the sidelines.
Wales coach Warren Gatland said Anscombe will undergo a scan to determine the extent of the damage.
"We're not sure about Gareth," said Gatland.
"He's going to get a scan tomorrow [Monday] so we'll see how that turns out.
"I've spoken to the physios. If it's just a strain of the ligament, he'll be out for a few weeks. We'll know more details after the scan."
Gatland said the medical advice during the game was to allow Anscombe the chance to overcome the injury after the initial blow.
"The message was just to see how it goes. He didn't do any further damage to it. He's already done that," Gatland added.
Justin Tipuric was taken off because of an ankle problem
"Sometimes players like to run off a knock - he wasn't able to do that.
"That's why with Justin Tipuric we made the change as soon as we saw him limping a little bit.
"There's a risk, but you have to be battle hardened as well, and the guys want to play. You have to balance that against the injuries you may pick up."
Anscombe and Dan Biggar are the two leading fly-halves with Jarrod Evans and Rhys Patchell also in the extended 41-man squad.
Blues scrum-half Williams was initially named as a replacement for the Twickenham match but was pulled out after suffering an injury in training on Friday.
Wales have a rematch with England in Cardiff on Saturday, 17 August followed by another double-header against Ireland in Cardiff on 31 August and 7 September in Dublin as they prepare for the World Cup in Japan.
In the build-up to the game, Gatland said criticism of Wales playing four warm-ups was "fair".
In Japan, Wales' Pool D campaign begins against Georgia in Tokyo on Monday, 23 September followed by games against Australia, Fiji and Uruguay.