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The game was brought to a halt just minutes into the first half
Wales U20s’ Junior World Championship clash with Australia was halted after just 11 minutes as a player was left screaming in agony on the ground.
Richard Whiffin’s side are competing for fifth place at the championship in Georgia and came up against the Junior Wallabies in a semi-final clash on Sunday night. However, there were distressing scenes just minutes into the match in Tbilisi as Australian full-back Treyvon Pritchard suffered what appeared to be a serious injury that ended his game early.
With the game still scoreless, Pritchard had helped to start a counter-attack for Australia when he was hauled down by a tackle from Welsh scrum-half Sion Davies on the halfway line.
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He managed to get the ball away, only to be penalised for a forward pass, but as play was brought back it became clear that Pritchard had been seriously hurt.
Replays showed that his ankle had been trapped under Davies in the tackle, with the pain immediately visible on his face as he fell to the ground.
As medics rushed to his aid, Pritchard’s screams could be heard on the TV coverage, with referee Robbie Jenkinson immediately bringing play to a halt.
The yelps of pain continued as the Reds star received treatment, with medics ultimately deciding to carry him off the pitch.
He left the field to applause from both teams, with the extent of his injury yet to be determined.
Shortly after play resumed, wing Rhys Cummings gave Wales the lead with a superb finish after getting on the end of a crossfield kick from Steff Emanuel.
A few minutes later, Osian Lewis doubled his side’s advantage with a well-taken try.
However, Australia hit back almost immediately through Tom Farr-Jones.
After Carwyn Leggatt-Jones was shown a yellow card, Australia made their man advantage count as Sam Blank squeezed over to pull another one back for his side.
Farr-Jones then struck again on the half hour mark to make it 17-14 and put the Wallabies ahead for the first time.
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