Welsh injury woes continue
Welsh rugby endured another troubled European weekend with Ryan Jones the latest addition to a lengthy injury list ahead of the defence of their Six Nations title.
The two points the Ospreys earned for their 15-15 draw against Leicester Tigers at the Liberty Stadium were not enough to keep them in the quarterfinal qualification mix and for the second time in three seasons Wales will have no active interest in the knock-out stages, the Scarlets and Cardiff Blues both without a win after five rounds of matches.
And now Jones and Richard Hibbard have joined Wales' seemingly never-ending injury list, Jones with a suspected thumb dislocation and Hibbard with a recurrence of the shoulder problem he picked up against Samoa in November.
"Ryan has gone off to hospital – I think he has a dislocation of his thumb and it may have popped through his skin as well," said Ospreys coach Steve Tandy
"We have been patching Richard since he played for Wales against Samoa in November. The way he goes about his business and turns up every week is just a ridiculous effort from the boy.
"We just had to take the kid off because he would have done himself harm otherwise."
Wales have 13 players in the casualty unit less than three weeks from the start of the Six Nations, among them lock Ian Evans – the only player to feature in every second of last season's Grand Slam campaign.
"Ian probably won't come back next week against Treviso," added Tandy. "I know Wales are decimated but we will just have to review the situation as we go along."
