Martin Castrogiovanni: 'Warm-up matches worth risk of injury'

Italy centre Martin Castrogiovanni has claimed that the risk of injury is worth taking in warm-up matches ahead of the World Cup.

Wales have been dealt a blow after it was revealed that Leigh Halfpenny and Rhys Webb would miss the tournament after picking up injuries in Saturday's victory over Italy, but Castrogiovanni insists that games so close to the start of the World Cup are crucial for match sharpness.

"It is part of the game. We need to play these matches. We take the risk," he told reporters.

"You want to win them, but you don't want people to get hurt even for that. I went to see Leigh after the match. It looked bad, but hopefully he hasn't been hurt as bad as it looks.

"For all the boys the Rugby World Cup is the thing we have trained so hard for. It is so important. I really feel so much for all of the injured players. We had our injuries too, Sergio Parisse, and very early Luca Morisi and later Gonzalo Garcia. I hope they will all be well."

Italy start the tournament against France at Twickenham next Saturday.