Pivac breaks his silence over the decision to jettison Cory Hill from the Wales squad
Wales head coach Wayne Pivac has admitted it is a blow to lose the services of Cory Hill but revealed the second row has been offered a “once in a lifetime” chance to move to Japan. The lock was originally included in the 34-man group for Test matches against Canada and Argentina next month but was released from the squad last week to explore a possible opportunity overseas.
Hill is set to leave Cardiff Blues on June 30 to sign for an unnamed club in the Japanese Top League – who will give the 29-year-old a significant pay rise – and the move will spell the end of his international career. “I was aware Cory was having a look around in Japan,” Pivac explained.
“He just said it was an offer for him and his partner, one they can’t refuse and it will set them up. He has looked at his age and where he is at in his career and made a decision based on what is best for his immediate people around him.
“I respect the fact he came in and told me. At which point we wished each other well and we made the replacement straight away because at that point time was ticking. With his new contract kicking off on July 1, it meant he would not take part in any of our matches.”
Hill, who only joined the Blues last year from Dragons, will be ineligible for international call-ups once he completes a move abroad, with the Welsh Rugby Union’s policy requiring players who opt to represent clubs outside of Wales to have at least 60 caps to be in contention.
"We have got four songs"
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— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) June 24, 2021
While there are certain loopholes in the ruling, Hill, with 32 caps, will join fellow second row Jake Ball in an early international retirement, with the departing Scarlets player returning to Australia this summer. New Zealander Pivac added: “It’s a blow to lose any player. We are not the biggest rugby population in the world and when you have got a guy on 30-odd Tests, he has done the groundwork and is at the age where, as a second row, he is maturing really well.
“He will be missed but it is life in rugby and sometimes these players get the opportunities which are once in a lifetime – that was certainly how it was explained to me. Here I am working on the other side of the world so I totally get it.”
Without Hill and Ball, in addition to the ten-strong Wales contingent part of the British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa, Pivac has six uncapped players in his squad but admitted not everyone will play for the Guinness Six Nations champions this summer.
He said: “We have spoken to the team around the opportunities for them to impress in training as well as the opportunities that will come for most of the guys. We haven’t promised everybody a game, I don’t think that is realistic. There are some guys who have come in and we want to have a closer look at them.”
One player set for a debut this summer is Dragons youngster Ben Carter, who has caught the eye of Pivac and his fellow coaches in North Wales this week. Forwards coach Jonathan Humphreys has taken the 20-year-old under his wing and the lock could be unleashed at the Principality Stadium against Canada on July 3.
“Ben Carter has been excellent,” Pivac said. “Jonathan has given him some responsibility in terms of lineout calling with one of the teams in training and he has taken to that like a duck to water. So really pleased he is getting to learn to handle some of the pressures in training.”
The making of Maro Itoje ?
Jim Hamilton was lucky enough to spend some time with Vitality ambassador and former teammate @maroitoje before he heads to South Africa ? @Vitality_UK
EP 1 – https://t.co/CIOmpi9Q2K pic.twitter.com/tSUOl348QX— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) June 24, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
1 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments