Wales kicked off their Rugby World Cup campaign with a convincing, but far from perfect 54-9 victory over Uruguay at the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff. There were fresh injury concerns though, with another player now having been ruled out of the tournament.
Warren Gatland’s men were keen to rule out any possibility of another shock result in this year’s tournament – after Japan beat South Africa on Saturday in Brighton – and they quickly made this a reality with a hat-trick of tries from centre Cory Allen in the first half.
Until Wales clicked into gear, Uruguay held their own and took an early 6-0 lead through the boot of Felipe Berchesi.
Allen’s tries were clouded over by concerns that the centre may miss the rest of competition after sustaining a hamstring injury in the second period. There were also injuries to props Paul Jones and Samson Lee as well as full back Liam Williams.
After the break, Wales added to their 28-9 lead with further tries from winger Hallam Amos and flanker Justin Tipuric while scrum-half Gareth Davies impressed by grabbing a brace.
While Gatland will no doubt be content with the result and the margin of victory, the Kiwi has more pressing concerns to deal with before their second pool match against tournament hosts England in just six days.
With the increasing frequency of injuries in key areas (Wales have lost playmakers Rhys Webb at scrum-half, centre Jonathan Davies and full back Leigh Halfpenny already), time is an unwelcome variable in the Welsh camp.
Allen was this morning released from the Wales squad and has been replaced by Newport Gwent Dragons centre Tyler Morgan. Morgan was part of the RWC training squad and will link up with the team today.
You can watch full match highlights of Wales’ opening Rugby World Cup win below
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