Peel suffers groin injury setback

Dwayne Peel has won 69 Wales caps since his debut against Japan in 2001

Dwayne Peel faces a race against time to be fit for Wales' autumn Tests after sustaining a groin injury.

The Sale Sharks scrum-half, 27, will be out for at least three weeks after straining his groin in training.

Peel will miss vital game time leading up to Wales' first autumn international against New Zealand on 7 November.

Wales already have injury concerns over props Adam Jones and Gethin Jenkins, flanker Martyn Williams, centre Tom Shanklin and lock Ian Evans.

Gavin Henson is also unavailable for selection because the Ospreys centre is on indefinite unpaid leave from his region.

Jones and Williams are both unlikely to return for the four-game Test series in November after undergoing shoulder surgery following the Lions tour to South Africa.

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I pray we don't try to get Martyn Williams, Gethin Jenkins or Tom Shanklin back too fast as we know what they can do

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Jenkins fractured a cheekbone in the second Lions Test and also had shoulder surgery on his return.

But he and Evans, who injured cruciate knee ligaments in last year's autumn series, hope to be back in action in time to be considered by Wales coach Warren Gatland.

Shanklin missed the Lions tour after injuring his shoulder, which required reconstructive surgery, but the Cardiff Blues centre also hopes to be fit to for the November Tests, with the All Blacks, Samoa, Argentina and Australia coming to Cardiff on consecutive weekends.

Peel's Lions bid was not helped by a hamstring injury in Wales' Six Nations campaign.

Lions star Mike Phillips is Wales' first-choice scrum-half while Blues new boy Gareth Cooper appears to be next in the pecking order.