Wales lose more grunt up front
Wales have suffered a double blow up front with the news that forwards Alun Wyn Jones and Josh Turnbull have been ruled out of the rest of their year-end Tests.
Experienced lock Jones injured his shoulder during Wales' clash with Argentina last weekend and was forced to leave the field. Although no time frame has yet been set for his return to play, results of a scan on Monday have confirmed that he will not be available again to Wales this campaign.
Flank Turnbull sustained medial ligament damage to his knee, also during the clash with the Pumas and despite playing on, he is set to be sidelined for a minimum of four weeks, ruling him out of the remaining fixtures at the Millennium Stadium against Samoa, New Zealand and Australia.
Elsewhere, both flank Ryan Jones and centre Ashley Beck have been fully re-integrated into training and should be available for selection for Samoa this Friday.
Centre Jamie Roberts is continuing with set return to play protocols after suffering mild concussion. He will undertake further individual sessions and is also hopeful of being available for Friday night's clash with the South Sea Islanders.
There has been no change in the situation with centre Jonathan Davies who is managing a groin problem and is currently unable to train fully with the squad.
Fullback Leigh Halfpenny said that after their disappointing performance against Argentina the team is determined to bounce back against Samoa this weekend.
"We didn't meet the standards we set ourselves against Argentina.
"Our ability to keep the ball wasn't good enough. We pride ourselves on our fitness and our ability to keep the ball but we weren't able to build that pressure.
"They slowed our ball down a lot and every time we attacked them there was a wall of white and blue jerseys in front of us.
"I think for us as players and a whole squad it's how we bounce back, how we react from Saturday.
"For me I just can't wait to get back on the pitch playing. We worked hard over the last two weeks and I guess we'll have to work harder now.
"I think over the series, the longer we spend together the stronger we'll get. We'll look at the video and look at what we've got to do better against Samoa," he said.
