North left out of Wales team to play Scotland

LONDON (Reuters) - 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 on Sunday in the only change from the side beaten 21-16 at home by England.

North left out of Wales team to play Scotland

(Reuters)





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 on Wednesday.

North is replaced at Murrayfield by Liam Williams, which means Wales will field the same backline as in their victory over South Africa in their final November international. Scott Williams joins the bench as backline cover."The response from the players has been very positive in training this week and we are looking forward to having the opportunity to right last weekend's wrongs," coach Warren Gatland said in relation to the defeat when his side blew an early 10-0 lead and were eventually outplayed by England."Scotland started the tournament well against France, building on their autumn campaign, and they will be looking forward to welcoming us to Edinburgh this weekend."

Scotland lost their first game 15-8 in Paris and 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.

Wales team: 15-Leigh Halfpenny, 14-Alex Cuthbert, 13-Jonathan Davies, 12-Jamie Roberts, 11-Liam Williams, 10-Dan Biggar, 9-Rhys Webb; 8-Toby Faletau, 7-Sam Warburton, 6-Dan Lydiate, 5-Alun-Wyn Jones, 4-Jake Ball, 3-Sampson Lee, 2-Richard Hibbard, 1-Gethin Jenkins.

Replacements: 16-Scott Baldwin, 17-Paul James, 18-Aaron Jarvis, 19-Luke Charteris, 20-Justin Tipuric, 21-Mike Phillips, 22-Rhys Priestland, 23-Scott Williams.









(Editing by Alan Baldwin)


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