Wales coach Rob Howley has admitted that the loss of Rhys Priestland is a blow to their hopes of success in the Six Nations.

The Scarlets fly-half has been ruled out for six months after having surgery on an injured Achilles and is also a doubt for the Lions' tour next summer.

"I'm hugely disappointed to lose such a talented player. He turned his performances around in the autumn and had one of his best games in a Wales jersey against Australia - that spoke volumes about him," Howley told Sky Sports News.

"But the key thing now is to get the injury right. He's shown great character over the last four weeks and I'm sure that fortitude will come in over the next six months.

"We have good competition at 10 with Dan Biggar and James Hook. They are hugely skilful players and Dan was one of the form players going into the autumn."

The 25-year-old picked up the injury in his club's Heineken Cup defeat to Exeter Chiefs last weekend.