Halfpenny's injury rules him out for the season

Wales full-back Leigh Halfpenny will miss the rest of this season after dislocating his right shoulder during the 29-18 RBS 6 Nations defeat against England at Twickenham.

Halfpenny, who kicked all Wales' points with six penalties, was comfortably his team's best player.

But Wales head coach Warren Gatland revealed in his post-match press conference the extent of Halfpenny's injury.

Halfpenny appeared to suffer the injury when he tackled England centre Luther Burrell in the second half.

Burrell would have scored his second try of the game, but his foot hit the touchline in the process of touching down.

"Leigh has dislocated his shoulder," Gatland said.

"That will be Leigh's season over, which is disappointing for him."

Scarlets back Liam Williams will be favourite to replace Halfpenny in next Saturday's final Six Nations game against Scotland in Cardiff.

Scrum-half Rhys Webb also went off injured, suffering what appeared to be an ankle injury, but there was no immediate fitness update on him.

Gatland is due to announce his team to face Scotland on Tuesday.

Wales number eight Taulupe Faletau has described Leigh Halfpenny's early exit from the RBS 6 Nations Championship as "a big loss" to the ailing title holders.

Halfpenny kicked all Wales' points in a 29-18 defeat against England at Twickenham before leaving the field after dislocating his right shoulder.

Despite his efforts, the result effectively ended Wales' hopes of winning the tournamanent three years in succession.

Head coach Warren Gatland fears that full-back Halfpenny, who will move from Cardiff Blues to Toulon this summer, will now miss the rest of this season . His injury appeared to happen after he prevented England centre Luther Burrell from claiming his second try of the match.

Scarlets back Liam Williams is favourite to replace Halfpenny when Wales wind up their Six Nations campaign at home to Scotland next Saturday.

"Leigh has been crucial to Wales' performances over the years, and he is going to be a big loss, definitely," Faletau said.

"Leigh kicked well today, and going in at half-time five points down, we would have taken that score after the opening we had."

Wales were rocked by an early Danny Care try, and they never really recovered as England ended a run of three successive defeats against their fiercest rivals.

"It was a disappointing result," Faletau added.

"There were too many errors, and England capitalised and scored points.

"It wasn't an ideal start for us, even though there was a lot of time in the game to go, but they came out on top today.

"We were aware of Danny's quick tap-penalties and stuff, but we just didn't react quickly enough.

"They built momentum up pretty quickly, and we couldn't quite get there."

Despite first-half touchdowns from Care and Burrell, Halfpenny kept Wales in touch during a contest that England dominated with regard to territory and possession.

But Faletau and company were ultimately found wanting as England emphatically avenged last season's record 30-3 loss to Wales in Cardiff.

"England were always a score ahead, but we were always in touch. We just couldn't bridge the gap," Faletau said.

"We are out of contention for the championship now, but we want to end with a win and on a good note next Saturday.

"There is overall disappointment. The errors cost us the game.

"There are always places for us to improve as a team and a squad, and we will go back and work on it.

"There were just too many errors, and we couldn't execute what we wanted to.

"Going into the championship we wanted to come away with the title, and we haven't been able to do that. It is disappointing."

©PA