Heavyweight prop snubbed by Gatland who bench presses 210kg ready for Six Nations debut
Wales’ winter regime change has given WillGriff John, the 20-stone Sale Sharks prop, the chance to prove he can be a major force at international level after he was named in Wayne Pivac’s first Six Nations squad.
The New Zealander, who has replaced Warren Gatland as head coach of the recent World Cup semi-finalists, was unable to pick Exeter Chiefs tighthead Tomas Francis who is still recovering from the shoulder injury suffered in Japan.
That created a vacancy for a heavyweight tighthead prop to be included and while John, 27, failed to convince Gatland he was ready for Test rugby, Pivac had been a regular visitor this winter to the Sale Sharks training ground outside Manchester to keep updated on the prop’s form.
Jonathan Humphreys, the new Wales forwards coach, also took a close interest in the 6ft 2in former Cardiff Blues prop, whose 2017 arrival in the Premiership has now been rewarded with an international level call-up.
“I knew the Welsh management were watching me and I was told at the start of the season it was a whole new coaching staff and set-up and they were going to look at everyone and leave no stone unturned,” said John to RugbyPass.
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“The most frustrating thing (under Gatland) was that I had never been told why I wasn’t a part of the squad. The advantage of a whole new set-up is that they will pick whoever they think is best.”
Born in Plymouth but raised in Rhondda, the former Wales under-20s player began his career with Pontypridd before playing for Cardiff Blues before he then headed to New Zealand where he appeared for Northland.
He then returned to England and joined Doncaster Knights where his form caught the attention of Steve Diamond, Sale’s director of rugby.
Congratulations to @WillGriffJ who is heading to the @SixNationsRugby with the @WelshRugbyUnion! ?#SharkTime | @UKFast pic.twitter.com/2xMyLxto2w
— Sale Sharks ? (@SaleSharksRugby) January 15, 2020
John moved up to the Gallagher Premiership in 2017 and he currently shares the No3 jersey with 30-cap Coenie Oosthuizen, who arrived at the club this season from the Super Rugby Sharks, joining a large contingent of Springboks in Manchester.
John’s unusual Christian name is an amalgamation of his two grandfathers which does cause confusion. “When you go to the doctors you get called John and it does cause some confusion for a lot of people, but I’m used to it now.
“My dad came up with the name and his dad was Griffith and my Mum’s father was William. He just thought it would be good to put them together. I was born in Plymouth, went to Australia when I was quite young, came back at five and grew up in the Rhondda and played at Pontypridd.”
John appeared in all of Sale’s 22 Premiership fixtures last season and has benefitted from the experience of Rob Webber, the former England hooker, but he goes into the Wales set-up knowing he faces stiff competition from Dillon Lewis (Cardiff Blues) and Leon Brown (Dragons).
“I went out to play in New Zealand and it was really helpful for my career because the rugby was so much quicker than I had experienced before. I played in a New Zealand Barbarians game against the Auckland Blues and when I got my head out of the scrum, the ball was on the far side of the pitch!
“I came back and joined Doncaster and the hope was that I could then join a Welsh region but that didn’t work out. At Doncaster, it took a while to get used to the way teams scrummaged and how they went for penalties, but in the last 18 months, it kind of clicked. Things were going well and I got the chance to join Sale.
Five uncapped players in Wayne Pivac's squad for his first Six Nations as Wales bosshttps://t.co/846gUyZKm6
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 15, 2020
“The move up to the Premiership was hard in that the ball is in play for much longer – it can be upwards of 40 minutes. When you play against the best teams the speed of the game is the big difference and that was the hardest thing to adapt to. ”
John’s large frame was developed in his teenage years, weight training in Wales, and it helped him get at a taste of international rugby – although one match was particularly difficult.
He played for the Wales under-20s team alongside current internationals Liam Williams (Saracens) and Cory Hill (Dragons) when they lost 92-0 to New Zealand in 2011.
The ‘Baby Blacks’ had a formidable line up: Beauden Barrett; Waisake Naholo, Rhys Llewellyn, Lima Sopoaga, Charles Piutau; Gareth Anscombe, TJ Perenara; Ben Tameifuna, Codie Taylor, Solomona Sakalia, Brodie Retallick, Steven Luatua, Brad Shields, Sam Cane and Luke Whitelock (capt).
“That under-20s team is close to the current All Blacks team and it is amazing how many of them went on to Test rugby,” reflected John.
“I can’t explain why we lost so heavily in that match and going into the game we didn’t know too much about them. When you look back at it now you realise exactly who they were how well drilled they were as a team.”
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Comments on RugbyPass
The value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
3 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
10 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
37 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
10 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
37 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
3 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
37 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
49 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
37 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
37 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. All the Kiwis sticking up for this unprincipled individual because they can't accept justified criticism, he has zero credibility or integrity. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
37 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
37 Go to commentsInteresting insight. Fantastic athlete, and a genuine human being.
17 Go to commentsThey played at night in Suva last weekend and it’s an afternoon game forecast for 19 degrees in Canberra this weekend. Heat change is a non issue.
2 Go to commentsWishing Rosie a speedy recovery
1 Go to comments