Belcher ruled out of Wales Nations Championship squad with neck injury

Liam Belcher has been ruled out of Wales’s Nations Championship campaign after the Cardiff hooker failed to recover from a neck injury suffered during the 44-21 URC defeat to the Stormers in Cape Town, head coach Steve Tandy confirmed ahead of Saturday’s Barbarians fixture at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium.

The 30-year-old picked up the injury in the second half of that heavy loss and has not recovered in time to feature in Wales’s summer Tests against Fiji, Argentina and South Africa in July. No replacement has yet been called up to fill the vacancy in the squad.

Belcher’s withdrawal adds to a growing injury list for Tandy as Wales prepare to face the Barbarians on Saturday, a match that may now prompt a reshuffle among the hookers available to him. In a quirk of scheduling, Wales will actually line up against a familiar face at hooker — 55-cap Welshman Elliot Dee will wear the No.2 jersey for the Barbarians.

Faf de Klerk will captain the invitational side at Twickenham, a week after featuring for South Africa in their win over the Barbarians in Gqeberha.

Wales’s updated squad for the Nations Championship includes experienced forwards such as Adam Beard (65 caps), Aaron Wainwright (67 caps) and Dillon Lewis (57 caps), alongside backs Tomos Williams (72 caps) and Josh Adams (70 caps). Several uncapped players — including Rhys Barratt, Kane James, Harrison Keddie, Ben Warren and Ryan Woodman — have also been included as Tandy looks to build depth ahead of the southern-hemisphere Tests.