Wales hooker Scott Baldwin bitten by Lions as Ospreys head coach brands reason for missing game 'pretty stupid'

Ospreys head coach called it 'pretty stupid' from the Welshman

Wales hooker Scott Baldwin missed Ospreys’ 44-25 thumping by the Cheetahs after being bitten by a lion, in what is surely the most bizarre injury of the year.

Ospreys coach Steve Tandy initially said his absence in Bloemfontein was just not rugby related but only later revealed what had actually happened.

The team were in Bloemfontein to play the Cheetahs after two South African sides joined the Pro 12 to make it the Pro 14 and the players were visiting the local wildlife in a safari park when the incident happened.

Balwin is expected to miss a few weeks with the injury (Getty)

The players were told to stroke the lions like a cat but Baldwin took it too literally and stroked around the animal’s mouth before it snapped and bit his hand.

Tandy called it the “one of the silliest things” he had ever been involved in and confirmed the 29-year-old needed stitches – although he did absolve the lion of any fault in the incident.

“There was an incident with a lion,” he said. “It's nothing to do with the lion in all fairness to it but he did bite Scott.

“When you put your hand into a fence and there's a lion in there, you can expect to get bit.

“He had plenty of warning, so it's pretty stupid on Scott's behalf. He's pretty lucky.

“It's probably one of the silliest things I've ever been involved in, but thankfully he's okay and hopefully he'll be back up and running in the next couple of weeks.”