Recovering Halfpenny to miss Six Nations openers

Wales full back Leigh Halfpenny is a doubt for the opening two rounds of this year's Six Nations Championship as he continues his recovery from a concussion, the coach of his Scarlets club Wayne Pivac has said. Halfpenny suffered a head injury against Australia during the November internationals and may not be ready in time for the respective trips to France and Italy early next month.

The 30-year-old, who has 80 caps for Wales, is expected to be sidelined for a further three-to-five weeks. "He's running, he's training and he's been having bouts of headaches," Pivac told reporters.

"He's frustrated but his health and wellbeing comes first." Pivac, who is set to take over as head coach of the Welsh national side after this year's World Cup, said the injury would not affect Halfpenny's long-term prospects. "(Welsh forwards) Justin Tipuric and Aaron Shingler have had spells out and both have returned to the top of their game," Pivac said. "There's no reason why that won't happen with Leigh."

(With inputs from agencies.)