Morgan Stoddart’s broken shinbone has ruled him out of Wales’ squad: 2011 Rugby World Cup
Welsh Rugby Union player, Morgan Stoddart’s, chances of representing his country in the upcoming 2011 Rugby World Cup (RWC) tournament came to a halt after he sustained a shin bone injury.
Stoddart sustained the injury during the Wales and England’s pre-World Cup encounter at Twickenham, London, on Saturday, August 6. Stoddart started the match after Wales’ head coach, Warren Gatland, decided to rest their experienced fly half, Stephen Jones,
for the game.
Gatland expressed his disappointment on the loss of the Stoddart. He said, “He did look dangerous with the ball in hand, he looked threatening. It was a shame he picked up that injury.”
Wales’ first choice fullback, Rhys Priestland, was moved to the fly half position while Stoddart took the position of the fullback.
Wales back Morgan Stoddart's dreams of playing in next month's World Cup in New Zealand appeared to be over after he broke his leg during a 23-19 warm-up defeat by England at Twickenham on Saturday.
The incident occurred during the 48th minute of Saturday’s game, in which England’s fullback Delon Armitage made a tackle on Stoddart, after the later had intercepted a pass from the English player.
Recalling the incident Gatland said, “I think he was screaming, he was definitely in pain so there it was safety first, stop play and get him off the pitch.”
England’s head coach, Martin Johnson, has expressed his sympathies for Stoddart’s injury. He acknowledged that the injury looked bad on the very first instance and termed such injuries as “nasty side of the this time and game”. He further added, “It's the
harsh reality, players have got to play, going to a World Cup. The medics do everything they can to keep them in one piece. It's not nice to see something like that.”
Trealaw born Stoddart made his professional rugby union debut for Pontypridd RFC in 2004/05 season. In 2006, he joined the Llanelli based Welsh professional rugby union club Scarlets. He has made 77 appearances for Scarlets in both domestic and different
European competitions and has scored 125 points.
The 26-year-old winger and full back player made his Wales international debut against the visiting Springboks side, at Millennium Stadium, during November 2007. He so far has played eight international games for the Wales, which includes seven starts and
has scored 25 points for them.
Wales' national Rugby Union team captain, Sam Warburton, has also expressed his disappointment on the injury to his utility back player. He further added, “It is gutting for Morgan. He had a real good shout of making the World Cup squad.”
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