Wales bring in scrum-half to replace injured number eight Taulupe Faletau

Wales have named their Rugby World Cup squad replacement for injured number eight Taulupe Faletau, as scrum-half Kieran Hardy gets the call-up.

Faletau was ruled out of the rest of the tournament after suffering a broken arm during their 43-19 win over Georgia in their final pool game on Saturday.

It’s a cruel blow for the outstanding back-row forward, who looked to be returning to top form in the recent Rugby World Cup outings after a recent injury.

Ruled out

However, Faletau must now watch the remainder of Wales‘ games on the TV as he suffers yet another setback, with Hardy replacing him in the squad.

“We feel we have a number of options in the back-row at the moment, so we have decided to call up Kieran to give us extra cover at scrum-half and to take some pressure off from a training perspective,” said Wales head coach Warren Gatland on the call.

Wales picked just two scrum-halves in their squad for the tournament as Gareth Davies and Tomos Williams were selected, meaning Hardy missed the cut.

The coaching team feels they’re well stocked in the back-row so felt adding another scrum-half was the smart move ahead of a quarter-final with Argentina.

It is likely that Aaron Wainwright will switch from the flanker to number eight, a position he impressed in against England in a World Cup warm-up game.

“It is a big loss; he is a true world-class player,” forwards coach Jonathan Humphreys admitted regarding Faletau before giving an update on Gareth Anscombe.

“He is great around the place, but in a tournament, these things happen, and we have been very lucky in terms of the amount of injuries that we’ve had.

“But it still doesn’t detract from the loss of him…You can’t replace what Toby (Faletau) gives, in terms of his intelligence and what he does, how he always turns up at the right place and makes the right decision at the right time.

Need more

“There is a huge onus now on everybody else to bring more.

“We are delighted that we topped the group, but then when you have close members of the squad who have been injured, you are clearly down about that. It affects the mood.

“It is a tough one for Toby, but hopefully, Gareth [Anscombe] won’t be too long. He felt something in the warm-up, and (we) made the decision not to play him. We will know over the next 36 hours what his chances are.”

Humphreys added on the back-row selection: “We are blessed with the options that we have, but it still doesn’t detract from the fact that Toby has been a massive player for us. Whoever steps in, I am sure, will step up to the plate.

“I think Aaron has been exceptional, and I and he know there is more in him.”

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