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Wales have been hit with the news that loose forward Josh Navidi will play no further part in the Rugby World Cup. The starting No8 against France injured a hamstring during Sunday’s contest and has been ruled out of the Semi Final and Final weekends. It’s a significant blow for the team that was already without Ellis Jenkins and Taulupe Faletau before the tournament began.
It’s now expected that Ross Moriarty will start at No8 against South Africa with James Davies or Aaron Shingler set to take up the vacancy in the reserves. An alternative could be to play Aaron Wainwright at the back of the scrum, where he lined up against Uruguay, with Shingler on the blindside flank and leaving Moriarty in the impact sub role.
Warren Gatland has opted not to replace Navidi with another forward, instead calling Cardiff Blues winger Owen Lane into the squad as a replacement. The 21-year-old made his test debut, his only cap to date, in the warm-up match against Ireland at Cardiff on August 31.
