'Huge talent' - What impressed Davies most about Wales debutant Rogers
Wales captain Jonathan Davies has described international newcomer Tom Rogers as “a huge talent” ahead of his Test debut on Saturday.
And Davies has highlighted Rogers’ work with two of Welsh rugby’s most decorated players – Leigh Halfpenny and Liam Williams – at the Scarlets as a pivotal part of his development.
The 22-year-old Scarlets wing is joined by uncapped Dragons lock Ben Carter in Wales’ starting line-up against Canada, while three potential debutants feature among the replacements in prop Gareth Thomas, back-row forward Taine Basham and centre Ben Thomas.
“He is a huge talent,” Davies said.
“One of the things I have been impressed with is it’s his first year in senior rugby, and he has been in and around Leigh and Liam at the club and just picking their brains.
“You have seen his game grow, and his work ethic has been great.
“He gets it. He gets what is needed of him to be at the highest level, and he has got two great mentors in Leigh and Liam, and he has taken advantage of that. That’s what you need to do, really.”
Three former Wales internationals – Kingsley Jones, Rob Howley and Byron Hayward – head up Canada’s coaching staff for what is Wales’ first game since being crowned Guinness Six Nations champions in March.
Wales have 10 players away in South Africa on the British and Irish Lions’ tour, but they can continue expanding their resources against Canada, then two Principality Stadium appointments with Argentina.
Davies added: “It is an opportunity for these young guys.
“They have played well for their regions and now it is an opportunity to showcase why they have been selected and why they are good enough to play Test rugby.
“With players away on the Lions tour, it creates opportunity and it makes boys step up as well and get responsibility and an understanding of what is needed of them moving forward in their careers.
“One thing over the years we probably haven’t had is the strength in depth, and with these opportunities now it is creating competition, which then drives standards in training, creates stronger teams and better standards, which is what’s going to bring on Welsh rugby.”
Wales will be watched by a first home crowd – 8,200 – since February last year when they host the Canadians.
And Wales head coach Wayne Pivac said: “I think 820 would have been good! It’s just nice to have fans back.
“I was lucky enough to go to Bristol against Gloucester (in May) and they had 3,500 at Ashton Gate, and it sounded like 35,000 because they were passionate fans who have been starved of rugby.
“We are looking forward to it, and I know a lot of the families and fans are looking forward to coming along.
“We really love these campaigns. We are looking at 18 players (newcomers) coming through in about 18 months, and it is serving a purpose for further down the track.
“Three wins would be fantastic, but if we develop more players that can play Test match rugby and build our depth, that would be great because you saw at the last World Cup that you do get injuries.
“We need to make sure we are as close to five deep as we can be in each position and we are building towards that.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Wasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
30 Go to comments