ROME (Reuters) – Wales were forced into making two late changes to their lineup to take on Italy in the Six Nations Championship in Rome on Saturday after veteran fullback Liam Williams and lock Dafydd Jenkins were withdrawn from the team 90 minutes before kickoff.
Williams was out because of a knee injury and Jenkins with illness, the Welsh Rugby Union said in a brief statement.
Freddie Thomas now starts in the second row in place of Jenkins while Blair Murray takes Williams’s position. He had been nursing a knee injury after last weekend’s 43-0 loss to France in Paris in the opening game of this year’s tournament but a gamble on his recovery did not come off.
The loss of the pair comes as a blow to Wales’s hopes of ending their 13-match winless run. Defeat on Saturday would see them drop to an all-time low of 12th in the world rankings.
Teddy Williams and Josh Hathaway were included among the replacements.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Clare Fallon)
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