CARDIFF, Wales (AP) — Wales chose only two reserve backs in a gamble for the autumn rugby visit by Fiji on Sunday.
Coach Warren Gatland went for a rare 6-2 bench split of forwards and backs because several forwards hadn't played much rugby lately. He thought every backline contingency was reasonably covered except if winger Mason Grady was injured.
Who was injured after 17 minutes? Grady.
He was replaced by flyhalf Sam Costelow, and Gatland admitted after their first home loss to Fiji by 24-19 that the wrong man went in.
It should have been backup scrumhalf Ellis Bevan, not Costelow.
“Teams get away with (6-2). All of a sudden we do it and the one position we could be exposed (in) we lose Mason Grady on the wing,” Gatland said. “That was tough for us and for Sam, having to cover that.
“Maybe the wrong player went on as a replacement. We spoke about Ellis Bevan going on. It's difficult. We had a long debate about that. Ellis was meant to go on. I need to get to the bottom of that. Sam ran on. I think he might have assumed he was going on.”
Costelow played on the wing until the 65th, when starting flyhalf Gareth Anscombe was taken off. Costelow moved to flyhalf and Bevan was sent onto the right wing, and scored a try moments later.
But Wales extended its losing streak to a record-tying 10th test. It hasn't won a test this year and hosts Australia next weekend.
Asked whether he was discouraged from using the 6-2 split again, Gatland said, “Probably.”
AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
Wales' Ellis Bevan scores his side's second try during the Autumn international match rugby match between Wales and Fiji at Principality Stadium, Cardiff, Wales, Sunday Nov. 10, 2024. (David Davies/PA via AP)
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — The Federal Aviation Administration prohibited U.S. airlines from flying to Haiti for 30 days after gangs shot three planes and the United Nations also Tuesday temporarily suspended flights to Port-au-Prince, limiting humanitarian aid coming into the country.
Bullets hit a Spirit Airlines plane when it was about to land in the capital Monday, injuring a flight attendant and forcing the airport to shut down. Photos and videos obtained by The Associated Press show bullet holes dotting the interior of a plane.
On Tuesday, JetBlue and American Airlines announced that postflight inspections found their planes also had been shot Monday while departing Port-au-Prince. American suspended flights to the capital until Feb. 12.
The shootings were part of a wave of violence that erupted as the country plagued by gang violence swore in its new prime minister after a politically tumultuous process.
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the agency documented 20 armed clashes and more roadblocks affecting humanitarian operation during the violence Monday. The Port-au-Prince airport will remain closed until Nov. 18, and Dujarric said the U.N. will divert flights to the country's second airport in the northern, more peaceful, city of Cap Haïtien.
Slashed access to the epicenter of the violence, Port-au-Prince, is likely to be devastating as gangs choking the life out of the capital have pushed Haiti to the brink of famine. Dujarric warned that cutting off flights would mean "limiting the flow of humanitarian aid and humanitarian personnel into the country.”
Already, a convoy of 20 trucks filled with food and medical supplies in the south had been postponed and an operation providing cash assistance to a thousand people in the Carrefour area where violence broke out had to be canceled.
“We are doing all we can to ensure the continuation of operations amidst this challenging environment,” he said. “We call for an end to the escalating violence, to allow for safe, sustained and unimpeded humanitarian access.”
On Tuesday, life in much of Haiti’s capital was frozen after the wave of violence. Heavily armed police in armored cars outside the airport checked trucks used for public transportation passing by.
Schools were closed, as were banks and government offices. Streets, where just a day before gangs and police were locked in a fierce firefight, were eerily empty, with few driving by other than a motorcycle with a man who had been shot clinging to the back.
The sounds of heavy gunfire still echoed through the streets in the afternoon — a reminder that despite political maneuvering by Haiti's elites and a strong push by the international community to restore peace, the country's toxic slate of gangs kept its firm hold on much of the Caribbean nation.
The United Nations estimates that gangs control 85% of the capital, Port-au-Prince. A U.N.-backed mission led by Kenyan police to quell gang violence struggles with a lack of funding and personnel, prompting calls for a U.N. peacekeeping mission.
President Luis Abinader in the Dominican Republic, which shares a border with Haiti, was the first leader on the island to condemn the violence, describing the shooting a “terrorist act”.
On Tuesday, a transitional council established in April to restore democratic order to Haiti also condemned the violence.
“This cowardly crime, which threatens Haiti’s sovereignty and security, aims to isolate our country on the international stage. The perpetrators of these heinous acts will be hunted down and brought to justice,” the council wrote in a statement.
The council has taken sharp criticism from many in Haiti who contend that its political fights and corruption allegations against three members created the political instability, allowing gangs to make violent power grabs like the one seen Monday.
That came to a head over the weekend, when it fired former interim Prime Minister Garry Conille — long at odds with the council. They replaced him with businessman Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, who was inaugurated Monday surrounded by suit-clad officials and diplomats while gangs terrorized the capital around them.
Neither Fils-Aimé or Conille have commented on the wave of violence.
Conille originally called the council's move illegal, but on Tuesday acknowledged Fils-Aimé's appointment in a post on the social media platform X.
“(I) wish him success in fulfilling this mission. At this crucial moment, unity and solidarity are essential for our country. Long live Haiti!" he wrote. Fils-Aimé promised to work with international partners to restore peace and hold long awaited elections, a vow also made by his predecessor.
But many Haitians, like 43-year-old Martha Jean-Pierre, have little taste for the political fighting, which experts say only gives gangs more freedom to continue expanding their control.
Jean-Pierre was among those to brave the streets of Port-au-Prince on Tuesday to sell the plantains, carrots, cabbage and potatoes she carried in a basket on her head. She had no choice, she said — selling was the only way she could feed her children.
“What good is a new prime minister if there's no security, if I can't move freely and sell my goods?” she said, nodding to her basket of vegetables. “This is my bank account. This is what my family depend on."
It was a frustration that concerned international players like the U.N. and the U.S. that have pushed for a peaceful resolution in Haiti.
On Tuesday, the U.S. State Department lamented that Conille and the council “were unable to move forward in a constructive manner" and called on Fils-Aimé and the council to provide a clear action plan outlining a joint vision on how to decrease violence and pave the path for elections to be held to “prevent further gridlock.”
“The acute and immediate needs of the Haitian people mandate that the transitional government prioritize governance over the competing personal interests of political actors,” it wrote in a statement.
Associated Press journalist David Koenig contributed to this report from Dallas and Edith Lederer contributed from the United Nations.
Police officers patrol an area near the Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
Police officers patrol near the Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
Police officers patrol near the Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
Police officers patrol near the Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
A view of the Toussaint Louverture international airport, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
A view of the Toussaint Louverture international airport, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
The body of a man who was shot dead by a stray bullet, is secured to the floor of a tap-tap, in the Solino neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
A police officer patrols the entrance of the Toussaint Louverture International Airport, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
Police officers patrol near the Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
FILE - Haiti Prime Minister Garry Conille speaks during a joint press conference with Kenya's President William Ruto at the State House in Nairobi, Kenya, Oct. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga, File)
Journalists take cover from the exchange of gunfire between gangs and police in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
Police officers patrol the area during an exchange of gunfire between gangs and police in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
Police officers patrol a street during an exchange of gunfire between gangs and police in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
A police officer looks on during an exchange of gunfire between gangs and police in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
