Wales Face Crisis in Second Row | Thebigtip

Wales play their first Six Nations match against geographic rivals, Ireland, at the beginning of February, but, with the Reds facing the loss of Alun Wyn Jones and Luke Charteris to injury, the encounter could lack something in polish, unless Wales can fill the void left by the two players in the second row.

Jones, one of several in the Welsh team, suffered a dislocated toe, of all things, playing for the Ospreys, earlier this month. The Swansea-born lock has undergone surgery to fix the digit, but all the medicine in the world could not prevent the ailment from impacting Jones' schedules.

The dislocation cost him an appearance in the Osprey's Heineken Cup draw against Italy's Treviso, on November 19. Jones will also miss Wales' Test with Australia, on December 3, and is a doubt for the start of the Heineken Cup. Anyone looking at the best six nations odds should remember this.

Ordinarily, the absence of one player would not pose much of a problem for Wales coach, Warren Gatland, but the wounded Luke Charteris is unlikely to be fit for the Ireland match either, meaning that Gatland could have two locks absent, when he comes to picking his Six Nations squad.

Alun Wyn Jones had previously been tipped as a replacement for Charteris, but Gatland may now have to lean on Bradley Davis and Ian Evans for both the clash against Ireland, next year, and Saturday's fixture with the Wallabies, which has been referred to as a rematch of the clash for third place, in the World Cup.

Luke Charteris, who is the captain of the Newport Gwent Dragons, has an unspecified wrist problem that may require the attention of a surgeon to correct. The Welshman picked up the condition during the World Cup, and has been absent from the field ever since. "It's disappointing for us […], but that's the nature of rugby", said Dragons' boss, Darren Edwards.