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Baldwin feared he could lose hand after lion bite

Ospreys hooker Scott Baldwin

Wales hooker Scott Baldwin has revealed he could have lost his hand after he was bitten by a lion last month.

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Baldwin sustained the injury after attempting to stroke the animal at a game lodge ahead of the Ospreys’ Pro14 clash with the Cheetahs.

The bizarre incident ruled him out of the Welsh region’s defeat in Bloemfontein and he is yet to make his playing return.

Baldwin’s injuries required stitches but the 29-year-old says an infection posed the biggest threat.

“The infection was the major issue,” he told the BBC.

“The next day it started tracking up my arm. The surgeon said there was a chance I could lose my hand.

“The bite went straight through the other side of the hand, but I was really lucky it didn’t hit any tendons or ligaments.

“The surgeon said it was like winning the lottery, he said it was the best possible outcome considering I had been bitten by a lion.”

Discussing his recovery, Baldwin – capped 34 times by Wales – added: “The first day our doctor cleaned it out and stitched it up. But the following day we went to the hospital after it had become infected.

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“I had my first operation on the Thursday, second operation on the Friday, and then I was allowed to fly home Saturday on the understanding I had an IV drip and went straight to hospital when I got back.

“I was transferred to Morriston Hospital in Swansea to see a plastic surgeon, and he cleaned it out once more.

“Because they had packed it with all of the stuff to stop the infection, my skin was so loose he didn’t have to take a skin graft, so I was really fortunate there.”

Baldwin hopes to be in contention to feature for the Ospreys against Saracens in the Champions Cup on Saturday.

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Comments on RugbyPass

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Philou 15 minutes ago
Did innovative England emerge strongest from the Six Nations?

Just a thought on the 7-1: it obviously works best with multi-skilled forwards on the bench. Kwagga, for example, could slot into various positions in the backs thanks to his sevens background, as SK mentions. And you mention Deon Fourie, but in an ideal world the bench replacement at the WC would have been Malcolm Marx (an even better Swiss Army Knife). Looking at Rassie’s selections last year and for the camps this year, he’s as keen as you are not to end up with a Deon Fourie situation again, hence his investment in multi-dimensional players at hooker such as Jan-Hendrik Wessels (also a prop) and Johan Grobbelaar (vastly improving as a BD threat). And hooker is just one example of that progressive thinking. So, love it or hate it, the 7-1 is also evolving, in SA at least. It will be fascinating to see which evolution trumps which.

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JPM 28 minutes ago
Six Nations report card: Each team graded from A to F

I agree that France have a B and not A. Mainly because of the England game that they lost due to themselves. But they still beat the record of tries and pretending that you have to play 5 perfect games to have a A (reference to the Scotland game) is unrealistic. Some time you need to play not such a fantastic rugby to win the game. Then SA would have a B or C.

England with a A is totally biased as even the English fans recognise it in their comments.

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JB 33 minutes ago
Six Nations report card: Each team graded from A to F

All credit to England. It wasn’t their fault that France treated the ball like a bar of soap. My point was that France would probably have won that game by a large margin if they hadn’t made so many unforced errors.

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JB 35 minutes ago
Six Nations report card: Each team graded from A to F

Did I mention France blaming a referee ?

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Desmond Davidson 41 minutes ago
What to watch in men’s rugby: Challenger kicks off, League One heats up

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MichaelT4 43 minutes ago
Six Nations report card: Each team graded from A to F

Last year England had 22 handling errors v Scotland and lost the game. I don’t remember any talk of England should have won. Should have is reserved for referee decisions that they get wrong, what actually happened on the pitch by the players cannot have a should have, they either did or didn’t do something.


The England Scotland game England were poor, but its also commonly said that the sign of a good team is winning when you play badly.


England could easily be sitting here with only 2 wins, no argument on that, but England did win both games, and deserved to.

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Desmond Davidson 58 minutes ago
Lion among 2 Wales stars ruled out of England clash with injuries

In Dec, 2021, I invested the sum of 19.78 BTC with a fake blockchain impostor I met online, all the money I had saved up since 2014 got stolen just within a Month, my whole life almost crumbled, to crown it all my FICO score was so bad that I couldn't even afford securing a loan to help my kids, but everything became better after I joined a forum online where I met people testifying about, a hacker who has been helping thousands of people all over the world. I decided to reach out to him via the following contact shared on the platform // jamesmckaywizard at gmail dot com or WhatsApp +31622647750., they responded and requested for all necessary information needed to aid my JOB, to my greatest surprise my bitcoin was recovered and my credit report fixed, FICO score was boosted to 783 across all 3-credit bureau's, all negative items cleared just within 8 days. I can't stop expressing my profound gratitude to this great team of hackers, I strongly recommend them to anyone in need.jamesmckaywizard at gmail dot com or WhatsApp +31657446248..

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BP 58 minutes ago
Mick Cleary: 'England are back among the heavyweights.'

Don’t bother with him mate…….always thinks he knows better.

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Tom 1 hour ago
Six Nations report card: Each team graded from A to F

I don't think you can neglect the fact that England really should have lost both Scotland and France games. 99 times out of 100 France aren't dropping the ball over the line 3 or 4 times, that was a freakish run of good fortune. They played well in the second half against France and deserve a lot of credit for hanging in there but if we're judging their performances - they were very good in one half against France and quite poor for the whole Scotland game. The forwards were very impressive throughout the whole campaign but England need to find their attacking identity. If the Wales match was the blueprint sobeit but we need to see them own that performance and for it not to be a blip like last year's Ireland performance.

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Tom 1 hour ago
Six Nations report card: Each team graded from A to F

An A is pushing it for England. I was pleasantly surprised by the Wales performance but the rest of the matches we were just OK. We did well to hang in there against France and Scotland but could/should have lost both games. You've given England an A but let's be brutally honest, if Fin Russell gets that last kick, you wouldn't be giving England an A. Our forwards deserved an A for the whole tournament. The backs and the attack in general struggled to find their feet for most of the tournament and our defense was iffy at times. Some fantastic work from a group of forwards who are turning into one of the best packs in the world but overall an identity and attacking shape was really lacking for most of the tournament and as well as England played, there will be tougher tests than Wales to judge them on.

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The Late News 1 hour ago
How Rassie Erasmus and the Springboks are winning rugby's secret information war

Cheers mate.

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RedWarriors 1 hour ago
Six Nations report card: Each team graded from A to F

France were under pressure all through that match. England played well enough to bring it down to a tight encounter and their plan for a late try worked. No referees for France to blame this time either.

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MichaelT4 2 hours ago
Mick Cleary: 'England are back among the heavyweights.'

In fairness to Borthwick he has done a good job of blooding youngsters already himself in matches against the top tier teams. Fin Baxter starting against New Zealand last summer, Cunningham-South too. Fin Smith this year. The squad depth is impressive when you also consider Furbank, Underhill, IFW and George Martin can come back in.


If, and its a big if, Borthwicks plan is to create 30 odd test players then he is going about it quite well. Fingers crossed.

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ZamaZama 2 hours ago
Easterby hits back at France's conduct in the wake of Dupont injury

Once again the whining schoolboy wants to tell everyone how to behave. What a 💩

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RedWarriors 2 hours ago
Easterby hits back at France's conduct in the wake of Dupont injury

He publicly demanded that the Irish players should be cited and declared their actions reprehensible. The obvious implication is that the referee has made grave errors and that the ‘culprits’ and ‘butchers’ of Dupont were not reprimanded. Of course he publicly stated that he didn’t blame the referee. Ofcourse his meaning was clear and the evidence is collective rage by the French public against the referee. This is dishonest and cowardice by Galthie. The two Irish players he attacked then received threats to their safety by French ‘supporters’.


We know that France have more suspensions for dangerous tackles than all other six nations combined under Galthie.


We know that he publicly lied about the ‘injustice’ of the Ntamack v Ringrose bans. He knew the difference, he acknowledged it in his evidence for Ntamack and he knew that French players had benefitted more than any others over both cases in previous years.


The last thing rugby needs is trial by media by mini Trumps who are only interested in cheating for their own country and disguising their own short comings.

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MichaelT4 2 hours ago
Six Nations report card: Each team graded from A to F

I definitely watched the game - England did stun them by winning, no one expected that. Not Englands fault that France dropped the ball - figuratively and literally - and it was England who then outscored them and out scrummed them and battered their big forwards back several times. England arent given enough credit for that win. Game of the tournament. Ireland v France wasnt a game by the second half, it was one-way.


For the Scotland game they were lucky Russell missed his kicks, but Scotland should have had a red card for the head contact from the winger on Chessum. No arms, jumped up and first contact was with the head. Evens out on the luck front.


Not sure England deserve an A that this article gives them, should be reserved for the winner, but they won their games by scoring more points. If another team had the same tournament as England, they would be lauded for their character and grit.

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JB 3 hours ago
Six Nations report card: Each team graded from A to F

Re England … “they stunned France …”

Really? Were we watching the same game? France left at least 3 tries begging, none of which were due to England’s defense - they should have been out of sight by half time.

For me, it was more France losing the game than England winning it.

France were stunned, yes, but by themselves

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Jahmirwayle 3 hours ago
Crusaders rookie earns 'other than Dupont' praise from All Blacks star

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TI 3 hours ago
Lions selection: 3 winners and losers from each country

Hugo Keenan played well in games where Ireland didn’t. I think he should be listed as a winner instead of Beirne, or Sheehan, who were always going to go.

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Chelsey Kate 3 hours ago
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