Wales will be without their world-class full-back Lee Byrne in this Autumn’s series of international Rugby Union tests after the player fractured a bone in his hand.
Byrne injured his right hand during Ospreys’ 31-23 defeat at the hands of Scottish side Glasgow in the Magners League on Saturday.
But Byrne, who has scored 40 points for his country, may stand a small chance of making the final test against New Zealand, although the matches against Australia, South Africa and Fiji have been all but ruled out by WRU physio, Mark Davies:
“Lee will be given a specialist opinion on whether his injury is treatable with a cast, if that is the case rather than surgery he will have an outside chance of being back for the All Blacks game”
Centre James Hook may be the most likely full-back option for Wales, who also have Prydie, Halfpenny and Will Harries capable of filling the role.
The Welsh side are likely to miss Byrne, in particular, for his ability to join the line and add attacking options.
Australia, officially known as the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. It is the largest country in Oceania and the world’s sixth-largest country by total area.
Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean about 1,100 nautical miles (2,000 km; 1,300 mi) northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about 110 are permanently inhabited—and more than 500 islets, amounting to a total land area of about 18,300 square kilometres (7,100 sq mi). The most outlying island is Ono-i-Lau. 87% of the total population of 883,483 live on the two major islands, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu.
Humans have lived in Fiji since the second millennium BC—first Austronesians and later Melanesians, with some Polynesian influences. A military government declared a Republic in 1987 following a series of coups d’état.
Fiji has one of the most developed economies in the Pacific through its abundant forest, mineral, and fish resources. The currency is the Fijian dollar, with the main sources of foreign exchange being the tourist industry, remittances from Fijians working abroad, bottled water exports, and sugar cane.
New Zealand is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island and the South Island —and around 600 smaller islands, covering a total area of 268,021 square kilometres.
South Africa is a country on the southernmost tip of the African continent, marked by several distinct ecosystems. Inland safari destination Kruger National Park is populated by big game. The Western Cape offers beaches, lush winelands around Stellenbosch and Paarl, craggy cliffs at the Cape of Good Hope, forest and lagoons along the Garden Route, and the city of Cape Town, beneath flat-topped Table Mountain.