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Gethin Jenkins gives Wales fresh injury worry

Teh Mite

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Gethin Jenkins goes down injured against Toulon on Sunday


Gethin Jenkins is a fresh Wales injury worry ahead of forthcoming Tests against South Africa and New Zealand.

Jenkins departed his side's 28-21 Amlin Challenge Cup final win over Toulon on Sunday at half-time with a calf strain.

James Hook, Luke Charteris, Dwayne Peel and Martyn Williams are already out of the 5 June clash with South Africa and the two All Black Tests that follow.

Losing Jenkins would be a huge blow to Wales' hopes for what lies ahead against the Springboks and Kiwis.
His fitness will be assessed by Wales when they gather for training this week. Centre Hook will undergo surgery on his troublesome shoulder injury after the Ospreys' Magners League Grand Final against Leinster on Saturday.

Lock Charteris has a neck problem while it has been decided that scrum-half Peel and flanker Williams need rest.

Coach Warren Gatland named a strong 27-man squad for the summer matches

Wales host world champions South Africa at the Millennium Stadium on 5 June, before embarking on the two-game tour of New Zealand, the Tests on 19 June and 26 June.

"We have some depth in these positions with the likes of Jamie Roberts, Andrew Bishop and Jonathan Davies playing well at the moment at centre," said Gatland.

"We are ok in the second row as well, and Sam Warburton has been pushing Martyn really hard for a back-row spot at the Blues as well as at international level.

"South Africa in Cardiff, and then two Tests in New Zealand, means we have a tough summer ahead of us.
"But this is exactly the position we need to be in and it will be perfect preparation for the World Cup."
Hook has been carrying the shoulder problem all year and has been awaiting the operation that is expected to keep him out for between three and five months.

The 24-year-old, who has 42 Wales caps at centre, fly-half and full-back, has played in the Ospreys' remaining Magners League campaign and coach Sean Holley says that the injury is not affecting his game.

But ex-Wales captain Jonathan Davies says he needs an operation now and Hook admits the problem "restricts" him.

"I'm feeling all right, the shoulder injury is not ideal but there are a couple of games left and hopefully I'll get through them," Hook told BBC Sport Wales earlier this month.

"It has restricted me, I've been having pain-killing injections trying to manage it... it's not ideal but it's something you just get on with."

Injury ruled out Duncan Jones, Richard Hibbard, Dafydd Jones, Dan Lydiate, Gareth Cooper, Tom Shanklin and Mark Jones, while Melbourne Rebels-bound Gareth Delve was not be considered.

The inclusion of Andy Powell was a talking point, following his dismissal from the Six Nations squad after his drink-driving golf buggy disgrace.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/welsh/8675061.stm
 
Although a truly outstanding player, he's not as big a loss as the likes of Adam Jones or Lee Byrne, mainly due to the decent cover available at looshead. He will be sorely missed around the park though, where no other prop in the world can match his workrate. Was watching the three Lions tests again last weekend, and some of the covering work he did (cover tackling Habana for one) was outstanting. Wonder who will come into the squad as replacement. I'm hoping to see Gustafson, who himself offers a big precense around the park and some delightful hands to boot.

Edit: slightly off topic, but does anyone else get severely bored with the bbc sport website just repeating articles time after time? They add a couple of new lines at the start, then simply copy and paste the remainder of a previous article to bumph it up. I call that lazy!
 
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If Gatland is consistent he will go with Rhys Gill ... but remember the standby is Craig Mitchell and with both James and Yapp able to play losehead ... Mitchell is the choice.
 

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