Rugby

Wales’ Alun Wyn Jones available for Scotland game after head injury concerns

Secondrow diagnosed with a neck injury after undergoing HIA during Ireland game

Alun Wyn Jones is available for selection to face Scotland at Murrayfield. Photograph: Joe Giddens/PA Wire

Tue Feb 7 2023 - 14:34

Wales’ record cap holder Alun Wyn Jones is available for selection to face Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday (4.45pm).

Wales head coach Warren Gatland initially said that secondrow forward Jones had been ruled out after he went off for a head injury assessment (HIA) during the 34-10 home defeat against Ireland on Saturday.

The matchday doctor made that call and with Jones’ HIA1 producing an abnormal result, he did not rejoin the action.

But Jones’s subsequent – and more detailed – HIA2 and HIA3 assessments were normal and he did not show any signs or symptoms of concussion, with a neck injury diagnosed, although not one to sideline him this weekend.

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It is understood that Wales’ medical team have been in contact with the Six Nations and World Rugby to keep them across the situation.

There has also been further interrogation of video footage and an interview with the player and no concussion was confirmed.

Gatland is due to name his starting line-up on Thursday, with Wales preparing to face a Scotland team fresh from a thrilling Calcutta Cup victory over England.

Meanwhile, England have recruited two more coaches from Leicester as Steve Borthwick continues to assemble his management team.

On the day it was confirmed Richard Cockerill would step down at the end of the Six Nations to join Montpellier, the English Rugby Football Union announced the appointment of interim Tigers boss Richard Wigglesworth and Aled Walters.

Wigglesworth joins as an assistant coach, most likely overseeing the attack which is currently being directed by Nick Evans, while Walters will become head of strength and conditioning in the wake of Jon Clarke’s departure. Both men will join the England set-up at the end of the season.

It lifts the number of coaches taken from Gallagher Premiership champions Leicester to four with Borthwick and his number two Kevin Sinfield also prised away from Welford Road.

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