TOKYO, 21 Oct - Wales number eight Josh Navidi, above, will miss the rest of Rugby World Cup 2019 after sustaining a grade two hamstring tear during the quarter-final win against France.

Coach Warren Gatland confirmed the news at a press conference in Tokyo on Monday. Navidi, 28, has played in four of the team's five matches in Japan and was forced off by his injury after 27 minutes on Sunday.

"He’s no good, so he’ll be ruled out. We’ll be looking to bring in a replacement tomorrow but we’ve just got to go through that process, go through World Rugby for them to agree for a replacement to come out," Gatland said. 

"It’s a grade two hamstring, so it’s at least a couple of weeks. It’s disappointing for him. Hopefully we will keep him out here. Obviously he loses his accreditation, but since he’s gone so far in the tournament it will be nice for him to stay out for the next couple of weeks.

"We’re just going through that with him. It’s very disappointing for him as he’s been very influential and important for us in the last year. It’s disappointing to have a player ruled out but, in saying that, these games are so physical and to have only one player ruled out at this stage is a real positive for us."

The Wales staff were meeting on Monday night to discuss replacements but Gatland said the new face is likely to be a back.

"Given that we’ve got six back-rowers and we’ve got five fit at the moment, we’ve been a little bit short in numbers in the backs so it probably will be a back who comes out as a replacement," Gatland said.

The head coach also confirmed that Hadleigh Parkes and Jonathan Davies should both be fit for the semi-final against South Africa on Sunday.

 

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