Leigh Halfpenny set to miss start of Six Nations with concussion as he’s ruled out for another month

Wales full-back Leigh Halfpenny is likely to miss the start of the Six Nations after being ruled out for a further three-to-five weeks, having already sat out the last two months due to a concussion.

His worrying absence will extend to the end of the month at least, and with Wales due to take on France in the Six Nations opener on Friday 1 February, his participation in that Paris encounter looks in major doubt.

The full-back has not played since suffering a concussion against Australia on 10 November in a controversial collision with Wallabies back Samu Kerevi, and Scarlets head coach Wayne Pivac confirmed that he will be absent for as long as five weeks, which would also rule him out of Wales’ second Six Nations fixture against Italy as well as the Scarlets’ Heineken Champions Cup matches against Leicester Tigers and Racing 92.

"Leigh has seen the specialist and won't be used for the next three to five weeks," said Pivac.

"He'll continue training and doing what he's been doing, and then he will be reassessed. It will be somewhere between three to five weeks, but these things take time.”

With Pivac ruling Halfpenny out of the Scarlets’ final European games as well as the Pro14 clash with Leinster on 25 January, he looks highly unlikely to feature at the start of Wales’ campaign, though that of course is up to national coach Warren Gatland.

"We will pass on the medical information to the Welsh Rugby Union,” Pivac added as he spoke ahead of this Saturday’s visit of Leicester to Parc y Scarlets. “That will then be Warren's call as to what he does because the tournament runs for longer than that.

"He's running, he's training, and from time to time I think he's been having bouts of [headaches].

"He's as frustrated as anybody is, but his health and wellbeing comes first.

"Lots of players have come back from concussion before. Justin Tipuric and Aaron Shingler have had spells out and both those players have returned to the top of their game at some point."

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The news is a blow for Wales on a day that proved a timely reminder of the dangers of concussion and head injuries in rugby. While three-time British and Irish Lions tourist Halfpenny was temporarily sidelined, Ospreys confirmed that former centre Ben John has decided to retire from the game due to persistent head injuries, having already elected to take 12 months out after his latest brain injury.

The 27-year-old last played for Ospreys on Boxing Day 2017 when he was forced off the field before half-time with his third concussion of the year, resulting in the decision not to play in 2018. Having left his rugby career behind him with 15 tries in 79 appearances for the region, John forged a new career as a personal trainer in London, and on Tuesday announced his permanent retirement from the sport.

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“It’s taken so long for me to recover, after thinking about it long and hard, the best decision for me, the only one really, was to retire,” John said in a statement that will be of great concern to current players. “Rugby has been my life but I realise that my long term health is more important so, in the end, my decision was an easy one, particularly having spent time outside of the game and recognising there is life away from the rugby pitch.

“It hasn’t been easy for me over the last couple of years but I’m extremely grateful to everybody at the Ospreys, players, staff and fans, for the support I’ve had. They’ve been absolutely brilliant.

“I’m not going to be a stranger. The Ospreys are my team and this is my region. I’ve already been back to watch the boys and I intend keeping in touch, supporting the Ospreys from the stand.”