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Wing Owen Lane has been called up to replace injured back-rower Josh Navidi in Wales ’ World Cup squad.
The 21-year-old, who can also play centre, made his Wales debut during the World Cup warm-up fixtures after impressing with the Cardiff Blues over the last couple of seasons.
He replaces Navidi in the 31-man party to prepare for Sunday’s semi-final against South Africa .
Navidi, 28, suffered a hamstring injury during the quarter-final win over France, and will miss the rest of the tournament.
He had started the quarter-final at number eight and played four of Wales’ five games in Japan.
Show all 31 1 /31Wales vs France player ratings - Rugby World Cup quarter-final Wales vs France player ratings - Rugby World Cup quarter-final Wales vs France player ratings - Rugby World Cup quarter-final Who stood out in the Rugby World Cup quarter-final as Wales snuck a 20-19 victory?
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Wales vs France player ratings - Rugby World Cup quarter-final <b>Wales:</b> Liam Williams - 6 France did an excellent job of kicking away from him to limit his involvement, with few chances to show what he can do.
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Wales vs France player ratings - Rugby World Cup quarter-final George North - 6 Excellent tackle stopped Fickou early on, but was intercepted by Huget when Wales had a three-man overlap as they were desperately searching for the try. Didn’t have a great game by all accounts, but then not many in red did.
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Wales vs France player ratings - Rugby World Cup quarter-final Owen Watkin - 5 Had big shoes to fill in Jonathan Davies’s last-minute absence, but didn’t show his best and showed what Wales lose without Davies in the side.
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Wales vs France player ratings - Rugby World Cup quarter-final Hadleigh Parkes - 5 Made no impact whatsoever with ball in hand and the fact that he was thumped backwards by Huget sums up the Welsh performance.
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Wales vs France player ratings - Rugby World Cup quarter-final Josh Adams - 6 Tried to come off his wing in an effort to get involved in the game but could not find anything come his way as he was starved of ball.
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Wales vs France player ratings - Rugby World Cup quarter-final Dan Biggar - 6 100 per cent record from the tee and his kicking from hand was average, if not good, but will need to work out how to get his back line firing again. At least he showed o signs of the recent concussions he’s suffered.
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Wales vs France player ratings - Rugby World Cup quarter-final Gareth Davies - 5 Didn’t look his normal lively self as France contained him around the fringe, and he made no impact off the defensive line in attempting his trademark interceptions.
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Wales vs France player ratings - Rugby World Cup quarter-final Wyn Jones - 5 Quiet in attack, quiet in defence, Just quiet, really.
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Wales vs France player ratings - Rugby World Cup quarter-final Ken Owens - 6 Wales’s most prominent defender as he led the tackling charts. Breathed a huge sigh of relief when his intercepted 25-metre pass was ruled inconsequential due to a knock-on advantage, as Guirado galloped over for what he thought was France’s fourth try.
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Wales vs France player ratings - Rugby World Cup quarter-final Tomas Francis - 5 Conceded a penalty early on and struggled in the scrum, though contributed well in defence.
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Wales vs France player ratings - Rugby World Cup quarter-final Jake Ball - 6 Made one impactful tackle that sent the French into reverse, but his place is coming under threat from the returning Adam Beard.
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Wales vs France player ratings - Rugby World Cup quarter-final Alun Wyn Jones - 6 Got little change out of the French defence with the ball in hand, but his defensive effort was at the highest degree that we’ve come to expect.
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Wales vs France player ratings - Rugby World Cup quarter-final Aaron Wainwright - 7 Sprung into life to snap up the loose ball and gallop away for his try that kicked Wales into life with a much-needed score to stem the flow. Was on the receiving end of Vahaamahina’s disgraceful elbow in the second half, but on the whole it was another good showing from the youngster.
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Wales vs France player ratings - Rugby World Cup quarter-final Justin Tipuric - 6 Played a key role in the match-winning try by catching the rip and taking it to the line. Spent a lot of time out wide, which didn’t always help his side.
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Wales vs France player ratings - Rugby World Cup quarter-final Josh Navidi - 5 Suffered a hamstring injury in the first half that forced him off. Replacement Ross Moriarty joined him minutes later when he was sent to the sin-bin, though he redeemed himself with the match-winning try.
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Wales vs France player ratings - Rugby World Cup quarter-final <b>France:</b> Maxime Medard - 7 Kicked smartly until his rash decision to attempt a drop-goal from halfway saw him grubber the ball instead. Part of a French back line that dazzled throughout the first half as he caused Wales all sorts of problems with his offloading in the tackle.
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Wales vs France player ratings - Rugby World Cup quarter-final Damian Penaud - 7 On another day he could have scored a hat-trick, but he did set up a beauty for Vakatawa as he split Biggar and Owens before offloading to the centre. He was guilty of dropping one with the line in front of him in the second half.
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Wales vs France player ratings - Rugby World Cup quarter-final Virimi Vakatawa - 8 Possibly his best performance in a France shirt. He caused all sorts of problems for the Welsh defence, scoring a try himself and knocking Biggar into next week with one emphatic charge.
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Wales vs France player ratings - Rugby World Cup quarter-final Gael Fickou - 8 Made a superb start to the match as he ran riot with Ntamack, cutting through the gaps left in the Welsh line. Could have scored early on had it now been for North’s excellent tackle.
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Wales vs France player ratings - Rugby World Cup quarter-final Yoann Huget - 6 Made a thumping tackle on Parkes and intercepted North crucially when Wales had a three-man overlap, but otherwise he was strangely quiet.
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Wales vs France player ratings - Rugby World Cup quarter-final Romain Ntamack - 8 Ran the show throughout the first half with a stunning display of running rugby. Brought his outside backs into play beautifully that Wales simply could not contend with. Played a key role in Ollivon’s try that will go down as one of the best at the tournament.
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Wales vs France player ratings - Rugby World Cup quarter-final Antoine Dupont - 7 Mixed up his play well with a blend of runs and kicks. Was on hand to take an offload from Ntamack and feed Ollivon to score the second try.
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Wales vs France player ratings - Rugby World Cup quarter-final Jefferson Poirot - 7 Won a penalty against Francis early on and made a strong contribution defensively. You could visibly see the role he’s taken on within this team as he tried to lead the pack.
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Wales vs France player ratings - Rugby World Cup quarter-final Guilhem Guirado - 6 Lost possession of the ball in contact with Ball that lead to Wainwright’s breakaway try. Reliable in the lineout but disappointed slightly with his carrying. Decision to replace him straight after the red card was a puzzling one.
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Wales vs France player ratings - Rugby World Cup quarter-final Rabah Slimani - 7 Stood strong in the scrum, but needed to do more with the ball and missed two tackles.
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Wales vs France player ratings - Rugby World Cup quarter-final Bernard le Roux - 6 In the unfamiliar position of lock that stemmed his talents around the ruck.
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Wales vs France player ratings - Rugby World Cup quarter-final Sebastien Vahaamahina - 3 Got the ball rolling with the opening try of the game, only to go from hero to villain with a stupid deliberate elbow to the head of Wainwright that earned him a straight red card and swung the game in Wales’s favour.
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Wales vs France player ratings - Rugby World Cup quarter-final Wenceslas Lauret - 6 Ran good support lines on occasion but could have done more defensively when the going got tough.
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Wales vs France player ratings - Rugby World Cup quarter-final Charles Ollivon - 7 On the shoulder of Dupont to inherit the ball and finish from range for the second try, and nearly found himself with another chance soon after in chasing a loose ball. A good showing.
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Wales vs France player ratings - Rugby World Cup quarter-final Gregory Alldritt - 7 Stood out with Ollivon in the back-row as he made important runs for his side.
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With Wales still having five fit back-rowers in their squad, coach Warren Gatland has chosen to add a further option behind the scrum.
Centre Jonathan Davies pulled out of the France game with injury, while Josh Adams and Hadleigh Parkes have been ailed at times during the tournament.
Lane gets the nod ahead of specialist centre Scott Williams, with the athletic winger, one of the finest finishers in the Pro 14, able to cover outside centre.
“No, it won’t be a back-rower. Probably someone in the back-line,” Gatland said yesterday after the news of Navidi’s prognosis was revealed.
“We’ve got six back-rowers, and we’ve got five fit at the moment. We have been a little bit short in numbers in the backs, so it probably will be a back who comes out as a replacement.
“It’s a grade two hamstring, so it’s at least a couple of weeks.
“It’s disappointing for him (Navidi). Hopefully, we will keep him out here. Obviously, he loses his accreditation, but since he’s gone so far in the tournament it will be nice for him to stay out for the next couple of weeks.
“He has been very influential and important for us in the last year. It’s disappointing to have a player ruled out, but in saying that, these games are so physical and to have only one player ruled out at this stage is a real positive for us.”
Lane will join up with the squad on Tuesday.
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