Wales will be without lock Adam Beard for their final match of the Autumn Nations Series, against South Africa in Cardiff on Saturday.
Beard suffered a knee injury in the opening exchanges of Wales’ record 52-20 defeat to Australia at the Principality Stadium and had to be replaced in the eighth minute by Christ Tshiunza. He was later pictured on crutches.
The Welsh Rugby Union confirmed on Monday that the Ospreys and British and Irish Lions second row had been released from the squad preparing for this weekend’s encounter with the Springboks.
No replacement has been called up and it is not yet known how long Beard – who has been linked with a move to France – faces on the sidelines.
It is the latest blow in a disastrous year for Wales, and their beleaguered coach Warren Gatland, who have now lost a record 11 Tests in a row.
The team has not recorded a victory in more than 400 days, since a pool-stage win against Georgia at the World Cup in France last October.
Sunday’s calamity included a spell in which the Wallabies scored 21 unanswered points while down to 14 players and has increased the pressure on Gatland.
Wales need to beat the world champions this weekend to avoid going through an entire calendar year without recording a win for the first time since 1937.
Match Summary 
Speaking about his future following the defeat to the Wallabies on Sunday, Gatland admitted “whatever the best decision for Welsh rugby is I am more than comfortable with that”.
However, No.8 Aaron Wainwright insisted the players had to take accountability for the results.
“We are all in this together,” Wainwright said. “The players are out there on the pitch, so we have to step up and do our thing.
“It is a collective effort. All of us need to reflect on how we performed in our own roles and see what we can improve on.
“We have got a couple of good senior figures in the group that keep relaying the message that we need to keep believing in ourselves and on our day we can go out there and beat any team.”
