Wales suffer more Rugby World Cup injury woe ahead of England clash

Wales' Rugby World Cup plans have been rocked by fresh injury problems as they prepare to face hosts England at Twickenham on Saturday night.

Two weeks after star pair Leigh Halfpenny (knee) and Rhys Webb (foot) were ruled out of the tournament - then Halfpenny's replacement Eli Walker was sidelined by hamstring trouble - Wales' luck shows no sign of improving after their opening 54-9 Pool A victory over Uruguay in Cardiff.

Cory Allen looks certain to miss the rest of the competition after the centre sustained what Gatland described as "a significant tear" in his hamstring during the defeat of the South American side.

Allen had earlier become only the fifth Wales player to score a World Cup hat-trick of tries, but he limped off in agony. Tyler Morgan or James Hook are now seemingly in the frame as possible replacements.

Full-back Liam Williams, playing his first game since the end of last season due to foot trouble, picked up a thigh injury, while Paul James and Samson Lee experienced tight calf muscles, and their fellow prop Aaron Jarvis rib damage.

Mike Phillips and Ross Moriarty had already been drafted into Warren Gatland's 31-man squad, and it now looks as though two more players - a back and a front-row forward - could follow.

"Cory's got a significant tear in his hamstring, and at this stage it looks like he will definitely need to be replaced," Gatland said. "But he will be scanned on Monday.

"Liam has got a knock on the thigh and I've spoken to the medics to get an update, but they said it will take 24 hours to make an assessment.

"We may have to make a tough decision in terms of the props. We only had three that could take the field, and we have to have four. We may have to make a difficult call and replace one of the props."

Wales prepared for the World Cup with gruelling training camps in Switzerland and Qatar, but Gatland added: "Sometimes you just get bad luck, and we've had that at the moment. That happens at this level.

"You can't blame the preparation on Leigh and Rhys getting injured - they're just unlucky. We are happy with how we prepared, but we've picked up a few knocks and that's sport."

Wales, fielding a largely-shadow XV, scored eight tries - Allen's treble, two for scrum-half Gareth Davies, plus touchdowns by Lee, Hallam Amos and Justin Tipuric - while fly-half Rhys Priestland kicked seven conversions.

Saturday night's much-anticipated showdown with England could go a long way to determining which home nation emerges from Pool A to the quarter-finals, and Gatland said: "It will be a mental and physical battle, and we have to prepare for that.

"It is going to be tough with the crowd and the atmosphere."