Wales call up scrumhalf Hardy to replace injured Faletau

Wales have called up scrumhalf Kieran Hardy as a medical replacement for number eight Taulupe Faletau at the Rugby World Cup, with coach Warren Gatland worried about the workload of his two number nines in the squad.

Gareth Davies and Tomos Williams have carried out the scrumhalf duties, but Gatland wants to ease the burden on them going into the knockout stages.

"We feel we have a number of options in the back row at the moment, so we’ve decided to call up Kieran to give us extra cover at scrumhalf and to take some pressure off from a training perspective," Gatland said in a Welsh Rugby media release on Sunday.

Hardy, 27, made his Wales debut in 2020 and will link up with the squad in Versailles as they prepare for Saturday’s quarter-final against Argentina.

Faletau broke his arm in the 43-19 victory over Georgia on Saturday which sealed top spot in Pool C for Wales.

Gatland is expected to use Aaron Wainwright at the back of the scrum with co-captain Jac Morgan, Taine Basham, Dan Lydiate, Tommy Reffell and Christ Tshiunza other options in the loose trio.