Wales suffer double injury blow as star man George North and Tomas Francis forced off against South Africa

WALES suffered a double injury blow in the first-half of their Rugby World Cup semi-final defeat to South Africa.

Tomas Francis was left writhing in pain after tackling Duane Vermeulen and came off after lengthy treatment.

It appeared to be a shoulder injury keeping the prop down and he was replaced by Dillon Lewis 35 minutes into the encounter.

And George North had to follow his colleague off the pitch minutes later.

A Dan Biggar kick to the right flank saw the winger give chase but pull up only moments into the run.

Initial fears of a hamstring injury would have seen North’s game ended without question and yet he struggled on, suggesting it was only cramp.

However he lasted just seconds before accepting his fate and coming off for Owen Watkin.

The Dragons were already without Gareth Anscombe and Taulupe Faletau before the tournament and they lost the trio of Liam Williams, Josh Navidi and Cory Hill while in Japan.

Shortly after North pulled up, Wales kicked through Biggar to make it 6-9 to South Africa in Yokohama.

The sides exchanged tries after the break before a late Handre Pollard penalty sealed the Springboks’ passage to the final.

It ended dreams of a first all-British, and a first all-northern hemisphere, final to set up a rematch of the 2007 contest that South Africa won in Paris.