Wales No 8 Taulupe Faletau has been ruled out of the Rugby World Cup with a broken arm sustained in the 43-19 Pool C victory over Georgia on Saturday as coach Warren Gatland waits anxiously for news on Gareth Anscombe.
Wales sealed top spot in their group and will likely meet either Argentina or Japan in the quarterfinals, but the victory came at some cost with the experienced Faletau a key member of the back row.
"Toby has broken his arm so he’ll be out," Gatland said. "We’re going to assess Gareth over the next 72 hours. He’s pulled his groin very high but he’s still got power in his leg.
"We’ve got to look at a replacement for Faletau, whether that’s a loose-forward or another position. It’s tough for him because he didn’t play in the warm-ups and we felt he was back to his best.
"It's a big loss for us. We'll make a decision on his replacement and the balance of the back-row next week."
Should Anscombe, who did not play in any of Wales’ warm-up matches due to injury, have a spell on the sidelines, it could leave Gatland short of options at flyhalf after Dan Biggar picked up a knock against Australia.
Biggar was on the bench against Georgia following Anscombe’s injury, but did not come on as Gatland opted to play Sam Costelow for the full match.
"We did talk about bringing Dan on but he was under a bit of an injury cloud as well so it was good for young Sam Costelow to play 80 minutes and get through that having been thrown in the deep end right at the start of the game," Gatland said.
"We won’t bring another 10 out unless Gareth is completely ruled out. Then it’s about finding the best possible fit for players carrying knocks."
Fullback Liam Williams also appeared to pick up a knee injury during the game.
Wales will always have had a knockout place in mind despite poor form coming into the tournament, but four wins from four and a likely quarterfinal against Argentina or Japan is, injuries aside, as good as it gets for Gatland.
"We probably struggled a bit today, Georgia aren't a bad side," he said. "They put us under pressure but we got the job done and we can now focus on next week."
