{"id":27283,"date":"2023-10-08T21:11:47","date_gmt":"2023-10-08T20:11:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/?p=27283"},"modified":"2023-10-09T17:34:42","modified_gmt":"2023-10-09T16:34:42","slug":"wales-suffer-faletau-injury-blow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/news\/wales-suffer-faletau-injury-blow","title":{"rendered":"Wales Suffer Faletau injury blow"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Veteran No. 8 ruled out of tournament<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Gatland gets creative and brings in scrum half Hardy as replacement<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Faletau absence a blow but Gatland has confidence in back row options<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Wales&#8217; <a href=\"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/rugby-world-cup\">World Cup<\/a> campaign has encountered a setback as Taulupe Faletau, the experienced number eight, sustained a broken arm during their 43-19 victory against Georgia in Nantes. The injury has ruled him out of the tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"Faletau\">Faletau loss is a big setback\/Gatland makes left field choice on replacement<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The loss of Faletau is significant, with the No 8 a vital part of Gatland\u2019s first-choice forward pack.In response to the forward\u2019s absence, head coach Warren Gatland has made a strategic substitution, bringing in scrum-half Kieran Hardy from Scarlets. With only Tomos Williams and Gareth Davies initially listed in the 33-man squad, Hardy&#8217;s inclusion provides much-needed depth at the scrum-half position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gatland expressed confidence in the team&#8217;s options in the back row, explaining the decision to call up Hardy was to alleviate some training pressure and bolster scrum-half coverage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Looking ahead, Wales is set to face Argentina in their <a href=\"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/rugby-world-cup\">World Cup<\/a> quarter-final clash scheduled for Saturday, 14 October in Marseille. As a result of Faletau&#8217;s injury, Aaron Wainwright is likely to transition to number eight from his usual blind-side flanker position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This adjustment opens up opportunities for players like Taine Basham, Dan Lydiate, Tommy Reffell, and Christ Tshiunza to potentially join Wainwright and co-captain Jac Morgan in the back row.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hardy, 27, will integrate into the Welsh squad in Versailles on Sunday to partake in preparations for the crucial match against Argentina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The team is also grappling with injuries to key players including fly-halves Dan Biggar (chest), Gareth Anscombe (groin), and full-back Liam Williams (knee) as they gear up for the quarter-final face-off against the Pumas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"Betting\">Betting Implications<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Faletau is an experienced player who is first choice No. 8. Bettors need to assess how much impact his absence will have on Wales\u2019 chances in the quarter-final and in the tournament as a whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wales are currently favourites to beat Argentina. At the time of writing<a href=\"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/betting-sites\/bet365\"> bet365 <\/a>have the Welsh priced at 8\/13 with Argentina 6\/4 and a draw 18\/1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As far as the tournament is concerned, <a href=\"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/betting-sites\/boylesports\">BoyleSports<\/a> have Wales at 22\/1 to win, making them sixth favourites.<br>Check the best bookmakers for the <a href=\"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/rugby-world-cup\">Rugby World Cup<\/a> and the best betting sites for <a href=\"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/rugby\">rugby union<\/a> with Betting.com.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"mt-8 wp-block-top-list \" id=\"sports-book\">\n\n\t\n\t<section\n\t\tid=\"block_8141482573443a4934d3596e4b3c3a53\"\n\t\t\t\t\tx-data=\"block_8141482573443a4934d3596e4b3c3a53\"\n\t\t\t\tclass=\"@container\"\n\t>\n\t\t<div class=\"grid grid-cols-1  gap-8\" x-ref=\"container-block_8141482573443a4934d3596e4b3c3a53\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/go.betting.com\/go\/boylesports\"\n\t\t\ttarget=\"_blank\"\n\t\t\trel=\"nofollow noopener\"\n\t\t\ttitle=\"BoyleSports Review 2026 in the UK\"\n\t\t\tclass=\"flex flex-grow flex-row items-center bg-white p-2 shadow group hover:no-underline \"\n\t\t\tdata-bt=\"tiles-betting-site-sm\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<img\n\t\t\t\t\tsrcset=\"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/boylesports_postcard_400x210-180x95.webp 180w, https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/boylesports_postcard_400x210-180x95.jpg 180w, https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/boylesports_postcard_400x210-360x189.webp 360w, https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/boylesports_postcard_400x210-360x189.jpg 360w, https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/boylesports_postcard_400x210.webp 400w, https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/boylesports_postcard_400x210.jpg 400w\"\n\t\t\t\tsizes=\"120px\"\n\t\tsrc=\"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/boylesports_postcard_400x210.jpg\"\n\t\talt=\"BoyleSports\"\n\t\t\t\t\twidth=\"120\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\theight=\"62\"\n\t\t\t\tclass=\"object-cover object-center bg-cover bg-center flex-shrink-0 w-[120px] lg:w-[100px] aspect-casino\"\n\t\tstyle=\" \"\n\t\tloading=\"lazy\"\n\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"flex flex-col px-3\">\n\t\t\t\t<div\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"text-sm font-semibold !leading-4 text-black duration-300 group-hover:text-red-100 lg:text-base\"\n\t\t\t\t\tdata-bt=\"tiles-betting-site-sm-title\"\n\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\tBoyleSports\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"mt-1 flex flex-row items-center gap-1\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"star-rating h-auto w-[60px]\"\n\t\t style=\"--bt-star-percentage: 91.3084%; \"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"text-xxs text-gray-60\">(4.5\/5)<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"ml-auto\">\n\t\t\t\t<div\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"right-0 flex h-6 w-6 items-center justify-center border border-red-100 bg-white duration-300 group-hover:bg-red-100\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<svg class=\"w-3 h-3 text-red-100 rotate-180 duration-300\n\t\t\t\t\tgroup-hover:text-white\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"18\" height=\"16\" fill=\"currentColor\" viewBox=\"0 0 18 16\"><path d=\"M.29 7.315a.94.94 0 0 0 0 1.36l6.874 6.562a.937.937 0 0 0 1.293-1.356l-5.18-4.949h13.285c.52 0 .938-.418.938-.937a.935.935 0 0 0-.938-.938H3.277l5.184-4.945A.937.937 0 0 0 7.168.756L.293 7.32l-.004-.004Z\"\/><\/svg>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t<\/section>\n\t\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wales&#8217; World Cup campaign has encountered a setback as Taulupe Faletau, the experienced number eight, sustained a broken arm during their 43-19 victory against Georgia in Nantes. The injury has ruled him out of the tournament. Faletau loss is a big setback\/Gatland makes left field choice on replacement The loss of Faletau is significant, with&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":27339,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[590],"tags":[645],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27283"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27283"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27283\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27291,"href":"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27283\/revisions\/27291"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27339"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/betting.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}