Pivac's honeymoon period will be shorter than Ed Griffiths' return to Saracens if Wales fluff their lines
Bonhomie and heartfelt platitudes have been the order of the day in this Six Nations build-up for Wayne Pivac, but he is about to find out that a welcome in the hillsides is reserved only for those coaches who can provide a big ‘W’ at the final whistle. His honeymoon period will be shorter than Ed Griffiths’ return to Saracens if Wales fluff their lines in front of 70,000 fans under the Principality Stadium roof.
Thankfully the portents bode well.
Wales have never lost to Italy on home turf and while the 18-18 draw in 2006 was received with barely concealed disbelief, Italy are winless in the Six Nations since 2015, so a victory over the World Cup semi-finalists would set off the sort of seismic shock waves last seen in Pompeii, so what can we make of his first roll of the dis?
I feel the need, the need for speed…
Wales now have two viable back threes who could scorch the earth. On Saturday, it’s the turn of Leigh Halfpenny, Johnny McNicholl and Josh Adams to audition for permanent roles but conceivably the following weekend in Dublin, it could be Louis Rees-Zammitt, Liam Williams and George North lining-up against Ireland. In anyone’s book, that’s a giddy array of talent and below that, you’d assume if fit Owen Lane, Hallam Amos and the in-form Steff Evans could do a job for Wales.
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WATCH: Saracens centre Nick Tompkins looks set to make his Wales debut after being named on the bench for Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations opener against Italy.
The hope is the 10-12-13 axis can utilise such flair by playing expansive rugby. McNicholl, particularly, has looked like a Test player playing regional rugby for some time and has been name checked by coaches as looking ‘razor sharp’ in training. Don’t forget that North, who has stepped inside to 13 as he tries out for his ‘second career’, has tormented the Azzurri in recent years with eight tries in his last five appearances. He will know the message is writ-large, about getting more key involvements on the ball. With Jonathan Davies watching from the commentary box, we will find out if the big North Walian can replicate his esteemed team-mate.
Will we see him putting boot to ball as an exit strategy? How well will he marshal the exposed 13 channel and how will his communication hold up in a different role? The 91-cap wing will know that Nick Tompkins, a far more experienced player in the 13 shirt, will be chomping at the bit to show that Granny Enid’s boy can pass muster at Test level.
Josh Navidi will be missed but Wales have options
The news Josh Navidi has a hamstring injury was met with glum faces from around the Wales camp yesterday. As a jack-of-all-trades, the Cardiff Blue is a mightily useful addition the backrow mix and was sorely missed in the World Cup semi-final. He can play the power game, hit the rucks, spoil opposition ball and tackle himself raw but one man’s loss is another man’s gain and Ross Moriarty will be desperate to make sure he clings on as a key cog in the Wales 23.
Even before Navidi was injured, I thought Navidi was destined to make an impact from the bench, with the raw dynamism of Wainwright preferred. The Dragon best complements the prodigiously-gifted, duo Taulupe Faletau and Justin Tipuric and as a trio, they’ll need to click because the backrow is the Italian’s most effective area and in Braam Steyn, Jake Polledri and Sebastien Negri able to match their Welsh counterparts with brimstone and fire. Wales have another option in Cory Hill who has shown he can play on the blindside but it is the fiercely competitive Moriarty who has most to gain from Navidi’s absence.
The scrum-half battle is bubbling away nicely…
We don’t know the extent of Gareth Davies’ groin injury but we can rest assured the West Walian is cursing his luck knowing that it has gifted his old sparring partner, Rhys Webb, with an early chance to assert his authority on proceedings, probably on a tiring Italian pack.
For Tomos Williams, it will be only his sixth start in 17 appearances, and there is a desire from the Welsh management to see if he can influence games from the whistle, not in his familiar guise of impact sub. Knowing Webb is on the bench could unsettle the No 9 from Treorchy or serve to motivate him, but either way, Pivac needs to know how he’ll cope. If they don’t switch halfbacks together, Webb could share the pitch with someone who knows his game instinctively, in Dan Biggar and how that relationship reconnects will be duly noted by Pivac ahead of the Ireland game.
Stephen Jones’ early SOS a silver lining for Wales
It would be hard to underestimate just how much Stephen Jones learnt about the Welsh squad during an intense six weeks at the World Cup. While Pivac performs the management duties, Jones is very much the hands-on tracksuit coach and how the mechanics of the backline operates is down to him.
There has been an onus on not pulling apart so much of the solid foundations laid by the Gatland era, so during this Championship we may see a Gatland-Pivac hybrid style of play but if space is sought and the offload count rises, signature Jones plays may start to emerge which should give us an indication of where Wales’ game plan is going to differ to the previous era.
Jones is already hugely familiar with his new management team. A former teammate and close friend, Martyn Williams, is on hand as a sounding board while Sam Warburton offers youthful energy and at 31, an ear in the camp to sense the mood. On paper, at least, it looks like Pivac has assembled a shrewd bunch of lieutenants to take Wales forward and Jones is front, middle and centre of that group.
Places up for grabs at the coal face
The front row is one of the less glamorous environments in Test rugby. Little heralded but you know if it isn’t functioning correctly soon enough. While Ken Owens looks a key tenet of the front row, who binds either side him at scrum-time is less sure. Wyn Jones overtook Rob Evans at loosehead ahead of the World Cup, but he’ll know that the handling skills of Evans and the explosive carrying game of Rhys Carre will mean a dropping of standards is verboten.
On the other side, Dillon Lewis has to ensure the stability of the scrum to compliment his breakdown work and energetic carries in the tight knowing Leon Brown, whose scrummaging has improved infinitely, and WillGriff John – a man who looks like he’d be equally at home lugging Atlas Stones – is breathing down his neck. This while first-choice Tomas Francis convalesces from the shoulder injury incurred when tackling behemoth, Duane Vermeulen in Japan. Jonathan Humphreys will have his wrench out ready to tinker, and will be eager to know what he’s working with. Tadhg Furlong and Cian Healy await.
Comments on RugbyPass
An 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.
10 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
1 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 Crusades , you can keep going.
1 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!😭😭😭 !!!
24 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
24 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.
24 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.
24 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
10 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
10 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to comments