Will Reed: Dragons fly-half not ruled out of Lions game despite head knock
- Published
Cai Evans, Ollie Griffiths and Will Reed all went off injured during Saturday's demolition in Durban
URC: Lions v Dragons |
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Venue: Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg Date: Saturday, 2 December Kick off: 15:05 GMT |
Coverage: Scrum V Live - BBC Two Wales, iPlayer, the BBC Sport website and app. Match report and highlights on the BBC Sport website and app. Highlights on Scrum V, Sunday, BBC Two Wales and online, Sunday, 3 December from 18:00 GMT and later on demand. |
Will Reed has not been ruled out of Saturday's United Rugby Championship game against Lions as Dragons bid to bounce back from defeat to Sharks.
Reed had been Dragons' only available fly-half after Angus O'Brien broke his arm, but suffered a blow to the head during the record 69-14 loss to Sharks.
Dragons head coach Dai Flanagan says Reed may face Lions despite failing an initial head injury assessment.
"Will isn't too bad," Flanagan told BBC Sport Wales.
"He was immediately good after the game, he's passed everything since.
"We're struggling to see how he failed what he failed, but he's arguably the brightest out of the whole travelling party because he's only played 20 minutes of rugby."
Nevertheless Flanagan insists Dragons will "respect the specialists" before making any decision on Reed's availability this weekend.
Dragons will definitely be without full-back Cai Evans, who replaced Reed at fly-half before suffering a head knock of his own.
"Cai is struggling," said Flanagan, who also confirmed back rower Ollie Griffiths will not be risked in Johannesburg after tweaking a chest muscle.
Should Reed miss out, Dragons have Jordan Williams - who can play fly-half - back this week, while centre Steff Hughes and scrum-half Rhodri Williams are both kicking options.
Flanagan said having smaller squads this year leaves sides more exposed when injuries inevitably arise.
"Most years you only use three 10s, so to be away to the Sharks for 60 minutes without any available is like taking the quarter-back out of the team," he said.
"But we know what we've signed up to this year, we can't use it as an excuse, we've got to back the plan going into games.
"Ospreys had two 10s on their bench, probably because they didn't have much left in other areas, so it is what it is, let's not make excuses."