Dragons back row Toby Faletau has been taken out of the Welsh squad after failing a fitness test.
Faletau picked up an ankle injury in the Dragons final Heineken Cup game on Sunday and following a scan is expected to be out for 6 weeks.
Dragons Rugby Manager Robert Beale said “We are obviously very disappointed for Toby. He has proven that he is a quality player and to have the opportunity for his international debut lost to injury is a real blow for him.”
“The Dragons were surprised and disappointed by the article in a Cardiff newspaper alleging that the Union had not been notified of Toby’s injury. Apart from the fact that Warren Gatland attended the game in person on Sunday and had the opportunity to liaise directly with our staff following the game, the Region’s medical team complied with all protocols regarding the notification of player injuries and specifically an email was sent to the WRU medical team on Sunday evening informing them of the extent of Toby’s injury.
“Clearly there is a communications issue regarding medical information not being given to the correct people, but we are confident that this is an internal issue at the Union and not related to the actions of the Dragons.
“The Dragons responded to the letter received from the Union regarding an earlier issue with Dan Lydiate and Toby Faletau by the deadline set of January 17th and we are still awaiting a response from the Union regarding this matter.
We will be writing to the Welsh team regarding the allegations made today.”
