HALFBACKS
10. Romain Ntamack (France and Toulouse)
9. Jack van Poortvliet (England and Leicester Tigers)
The two most recent players to miss out on the Rugby World Cup due to injury. England scrum half Jack van Poortvliet suffered a tough ankle injury, just after half an hour’s play in the second Summer test match against Wales. Northampton Saints man Alex Mitchell has been re-called in his place, confirming the departure of JVP.
France fly half Romain Ntamack is an enormous loss for Les Bleus. The halfback suffered a devastating ACL injury in their recent match against Scotland, after his boot twisted awkwardly in a tackle attempt on his opposite fan Finn Russell. An honourable mention goes to South Africa’s Handre Pollard, with the Springbok officially confirmed as out of the competition, unless injuries strike the camp in France.
FRONT ROW
1. Wyn Jones (Wales and Scarelts)
2. Ken Owens (Wales and Scarlets)
3. Allan Ala’alatoa (Australia and Brumbies)
Scarlets teammates Wyn Jones and Ken Owens make up the loosehead and hooker spots, in this team of Rugby World Cup absentees. Wyn Jones was overlooked by Warren Gatland, and has spoken out about how this has only spurred the 31-year-old on to improve his performances.
Ken Owens has been unable to shake off a re-occurring back injury, which has unfortunately ruled Wales’ 2023 Six Nations captain out of the upcoming trip to France. Wallabies tighthead Allan Ala’alatoa has had his campaign put to bed after rupturing his Achilles, in another unfortunate injury. The Brumbies man misses out despite having impressive performances throughout the 2023 Super Rugby season.