George North, the Wales winger at the centre of a concussion controversy after being knocked senseless last Friday, has been left out of the team to visit Scotland at Murrayfield on Sunday in the only change from the side who lost 21-16 at home to England.
North suffered two heavy impacts to his head but, despite being seen by most of the crowd and millions of TV viewers as he collapsed clearly unconscious after the second incident, Welsh medical officials said they did not notice and kept him on the pitch.
“North is currently symptom-free and, whilst nearing the conclusion of the graduated return to play protocol, the decision has been taken to allow him an elongated recovery period in light of his recent concussive episode in the autumn period,” the Welsh Rugby Union said in a statement yesterday.
North is replaced at Murrayfield by Liam Williams, which means Wales will field the same backline as their victory over South Africa in their final November international. .
“The response from the players has been very positive in training, and we are looking forward to having the opportunity to right last weekend’s wrongs,” coach Warren Gatland said in relation to the defeat to England when his side let slip an early 10-0 lead.
Scotland lost their first game 15-8 in Paris. Though they played well for long spells, they will need to find more sustained control to overcome a Wales team who have won 11 of their last 12 meetings.
Elsewhere, England coach Stuart Lancaster took the unusual step of confirming an unchanged matchday squad for the Six Nations encounter against Italy at Twickenham on Saturday.
Lancaster will name the starting team today and is expected to stick with the same 15 who began in Cardiff on Friday.
The coach had been forced into making several changes after a raft of injuries, but the new men performed impressively, notably centre Jonathan Joseph, who scored a try to cap a great performance on his Six Nations debut.
“We’ll name the team on Thursday, but we’ve gone for the same squad that played against Wales as we look to build consistent performances,” Lancaster said in a statement.
France coach Philippe Saint-Andre has called up prop Eddy Ben Arous to face Ireland in Dublin on Saturday in the sole change to the team that beat Scotland.
Racing-Metro’s Ben Arous, 24, replaces the injured Alexandre Menini and is line to make his first start for France.
Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE
