Wales call up reinforcements
Wales have called up an extra player as cover for Rhys Patchell for the November Internationals.
The Scarlets flyhalf suffered a bang to the head against Ulster at the start of last month and missed games against Leinster and Benetton. He then picked up a knock against the Ospreys on October 6.
It has forced him to miss the Champions Cup games against Racing 92 and Leicester Tigers.
Now Cardiff Blues’ Jarrod Evans has been drafted into Warren Gatland’s squad.
Second row Bradley Davies has been released from the Wales camp to undergo further assessment on a knee injury at the Ospreys.
In a statement, the WRU said: “Cardiff Blues’ Jarrod Evans has been called into Wales’ 2018 Under Armour Series squad. The former Wales U20 fly-half (who is uncapped at senior level) was already training with the squad but has now been called up officially.
“Rhys Patchell continues to make progress with his rehabilitation following his concussion.
“Bradley Davies has been released from the squad to optimise management of a knee pathology. Further investigations and assessments will establish Brad’s prognosis."
Speaking at last week’s original squad announcement head coach Warren Gatland expressed worries over Patchell.
“We are concerned about him. I need to reiterate or point out that player welfare is the most important thing for us.
“He is going to come in with us and we’ve even had the discussion we might not even play him in this campaign.
“We’ll look after him, and he can train. I haven’t had this conversation with the Scarlets or their medical team, but having spoken to Prav Mathema (Wales medical manager) my thing would be that if he did get another knock in the next game or in the next four to six weeks, then he probably needs to do what George North did and maybe take the rest of the season off to get himself right.
“We’re going to bring him in and assess where he is. When you get a few knocks it’s the confidence and coming back if Rhys is brutally honest with himself, in his first game back against Connacht they were pretty direct in the way they played (against him).
“He didn’t seem keen on making too many tackles or taking the line on, which are his strengths.
“His next performances were better, but the most important thing for players as far as I am concerned in the modern game is their welfare. We will not be taking any risks with Rhys Patchell or pushing him to get out on the field unless he’s 100 percent comfortable and confident, and we can see that confidence in his game.
“If he comes into came and just needs to just train for three or four weeks and be part of it, then we will do that, as we see him playing a big part in the next 12 months.