Wales prop Francis returning home from SA after concussion
Wales’ Tomas Francis is taken off the field after he caught the knee of South Africa’s Steven Kitshoff during the Rugby Championship test at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria, South Africa, Saturday, July 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Wales prop Tomas Francis will miss the rest of the rugby test series in South Africa after he was concussed on Saturday.
Francis took an inadvertent knee to the head within a minute of replacing Dillon Lewis in the first test in Pretoria. The match was halted for seven minutes and he was removed on a stretcher.
He was already going to miss the second test this weekend in Bloemfontein because of World Rugby’s 12-day stand-down rule, but the team’s medical staff decided he should return home on Tuesday.
“The medical team have withdrawn Francis from the remainder of the series to allow him to optimise his recovery,” the Welsh Rugby Union said in a statement on Monday.
Francis will not be replaced in the squad. It has three tightheads remaining in Lewis, Sam Wainwright and Harri O’Connor.
Wales lost the first test 32-29. There are two more tests.
Francis was also concussed in February against England in the Six Nations but passed a head injury assessment and allowed to play on. But a post-match review decided he should have stayed off the field.
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