Scotland and Wales shore up squads after injuries
Townsend is forced to call up Pyrgos for Price Gatland turns to Davies as Hill recovery stalls
The punishing start to the World Cup has taken a further toll on the home nations, with Scotland and Wales suffering fresh injury blows.
After being routed by Ireland on Sunday and sending injured openside Hamish Watson home yesterday, Scotland have confirmed that Ali Price’s World Cup is over.
The 26-year-old scrum-half sustained a foot injury in the defeat by Ireland after coming on as a replacement for Greig Laidlaw.
Price will be replaced by Henry Pyrgos, who is due to arrive tomorrow. The 30-year-old Edinburgh scrum-half played in the 2015 World Cup, but won the last of his 28 Scotland caps as a replacement for Price in the 53-24 win over Australia at Murrayfield in 2017.
Price had looked likely to start against Samoa on Monday, but his departure may open the door for Glasgow Warriors team-mate George Horne if coach Gregor Townsend decides he needs a new face at the base of the scrum.
“Both Ali and Hamish had invested a lot of effort into being in their best physical shape for the World Cup and it’s a shame they’ve only been involved in one game,” said Townsend. “However, we have a lot of belief in our wider group and the two new players [Magnus Bradbury and Henry Pyrgos] who have been given this opportunity.”
Second-row Cory Hill has been released from the Wales squad after failing to recover significantly from a stress fracture of his fibula.
Bradley Davies, capped 65 times, has been named as Hill’s replacement and the 32-year-old will arrive in Japan today. Warren Gatland only has two fit specialist locks ahead of Davies’s arrival, with Jake Ball and Alun Wyn Jones starting Monday’s win over Georgia.
Aaron Shingler, the Scarlets back row, has been providing secondrow cover with Hill and Adam Beard unable to train. Beard arrived in Japan on Saturday following appendix surgery and his chances of featuring against Australia were dismissed last week by Warren Gatland, the Wales head coach.