Halfpenny absence from world cup not good news for anyone

by Rick Johansen

There’s been quite a lot of ribbing on social networks of Welsh rugby union fans about the severe knee injury that will keep their brilliant full back out of the world cup. As a card-carrying Englishman, I want England to escape their group in order to progress in the tournament, which could well be at the expense of Wales, but I get no pleasure from seeing one of their best players having to miss out.

There was plenty of the “Halfpenny and (Rhys) Webb to miss the RWC LOL” type comment which rather overlooks the human side of all this. Leigh Halfpenny has ruptured anterior cruciate knee ligaments which is no small injury. If it is not career ending, the odds are that it will be career-changing. Athletes rarely come back to the same level following major knee surgery and even reconstruction. The best players adapt to that loss of pace, no matter how minute, by changing the way they play. Alan Shearer was a great example of this. Others are never the same again and some have to call it a day.

At 26, you would imagine that this world cup would have been one of the high points of his career. He is arguably at, or near, the very height of his powers, he will probably not get better now, as he might have done before this injury came along.

Wales could ill afford to lose a world class full back like Halfpenny and they can less afford to lose scrum half Rhys Webb, either. If he is out, expect the return of both Mike Phillips, essentially an extra forward, and crash-bash up-the-middle Warrenball. It might work against Italy and Scotland but it won’t bother the southern hemisphere teams or even most of them from the north.

No, there is nothing to celebrate by having good players miss the biggest event in the sport. It’s no good for the player concerned who sees a dream shattered, it’s no good for the country whose hopes of doing well diminish and it’s not good for the sport.

As an Englishman, I am sorry for Halfpenny. It might make life easier for England in a single game but overall it’s very sad news.

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