Jonathan Davies: Gatland hopeful over key player's injury for quarter-finals
- Published
Jonathan Davies receives treatment against Fiji
Rugby World Cup: Wales v Uruguay |
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Venue: Kumamoto Prefectural Athletic Stadium, Kumamoto City Date: Sun, 13 October Kick-off: 09:15 BST |
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Wales head coach Warren Gatland says he is hopeful centre Jonathan Davies will recover from a knee injury in time for their World Cup quarter-final.
Davies, 31, was forced off the field during Wednesday's win over Fiji and will miss Sunday's match against Uruguay.
If Wales beat Uruguay, they will face France in a quarter-final a week Sunday.
Asked if he thought Davies would be available for that fixture, Gatland said: "Yeah, hopefully."
The New Zealander added: "He's being managed at the moment. The knee was pretty good the next day [after the Fiji match].
"It had a little bit of swelling, so he's been icing it regularly.
"He gets a bit more time so hopefully that keeps improving over the next few days."
Speaking on Saturday, a day after Gatland named his side to face Uruguay, Wales defence coach Shaun Edwards gave an additional update on Davies' fitness.
"He doesn't feel it's as bad as we first feared," said Edwards.
"There will be more news in the next couple of days but the medics are working hard on him, and we're in a positive frame of mind with regards to him being involved further down the line."
Davies is arguably the world's best outside centre, a pivotal figure for Wales who is as influential in defence as he is in attack.
Losing him for a quarter-final would be a heavy blow, particularly as Wales only have two other centres in Japan, Hadleigh Parkes and Owen Watkin.
Gatland might have rested Parkes against Uruguay because he has been playing with a broken bone in hand, but injuries to others means the Scarlets centre will line up alongside Watkin in midfield on Sunday.
Biggar 'symptom-free'
Fly-half Dan Biggar is another who will be absent after suffering a head injury for a second successive match against Fiji.
The 29-year-old was accidently struck on the head by team-mate Liam Williams as the full-back jumped to catch a high ball, but Gatland is encouraged by the way Biggar has been recovering.
"The medics have spoken to a number of people during consultations," he said.
"He's said he feels really good in himself and he's come through symptom-free and he's going through the HIA [head injury assessment] protocol at the moment.
"They've consulted with a number of people with Dan's situation."