Ross Moriarty: Ankle injury forces back-rower out of Wales squad
- Published
Ross Moriarty made his most recent Wales appearance in March as they lost to England at Twickenham in the 2020 Six Nations
Autumn Nations Cup: Group A - Wales v England |
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Venue: Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli Date: Saturday, 28 November Kick-off: 16:00 GMT |
Coverage: Listen to commentary on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru, BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra, BBC Radio 5 Live (second half only) and follow live text on the BBC Sport website and app. |
Back-rower Ross Moriarty has been released from Wales' Autumn Nations Cup squad back to Dragons as he struggles to overcome an ankle injury.
The 26-year-old has played no part in the competition after being injured in training.
Wales said Moriarty would play "no further part" this autumn.
Flanker Justin Tipuric suffered a head knock as they beat Georgia last weekend while Josh Navidi has yet to feature in the tournament due to a concussion.
"It was a pretty heavy knock on Saturday, but he [Tipuric] seems pretty good, and we will see how he goes for the rest of the week," said Wales assistant coach Neil Jenkins
"We are pretty blessed in the back-row area, and Josh fits into that.
"For me, he's a world-class player, the type of guy with minimal rugby that can step up and play Test match football."
James Botham made his Wales debut in the back row against Georgia and James Davies replaced Tipuric while Aaron Wainwright started at number eight as Taulupe Faletau sat the game out because of injury.
Faletau is expected to be fit for consideration against England on Saturday.
Liam Williams has also returned to training after a face injury, but his fellow Scarlets outside back Johnny McNicholl is still being assessed for a rib injury.
Beating England would be seen as a shock, not to Wales - Neil Jenkins
The game against England will determine Wales' Group A finishing position and who they meet from Group B on finals day a week later.
Wales lost their opening match in Ireland before beating Georgia last weekend, ending a run of six consecutive defeats.
England, by contrast, are reigning Six Nations champions and have won both their opening Autumn Nations Cup matches against Georgia and Ireland.
"England, certainly, is a big game for us and as we've already mentioned some of the performances against France, Scotland and Ireland haven't been good enough," said Jenkins.
"We are up against the second best side in the world at this moment in time and as I've said this is a big challenge for us.
"We wouldn't see it as a shock in here [if Wales won], but I'm sure the rest of the world would."
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