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Wales have delivered a positive early assessment of their captain Alun Wyn Jones after he went off injured during a 54-16 defeat against New Zealand in Cardiff.
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Jones hurt the same shoulder that threatened to sideline him from this summer’s British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa before he made a startling recovery and started all three Tests.
He went off just 18 minutes into the contest, causing concern ahead of Wales’ remaining Autumn Nations Series appointments with South Africa, Fiji and Australia.
Wales head coach Wayne Pivac said: “Al, talking to him in the changing room, feels pretty good. We will get a scan as a precaution, but he is not in discomfort.
“Obviously at the time, he couldn’t play on, but he is feeling a lot better, so that’s a plus.”
Asked if there were worries if 149 times-capped Jones had suffered a repeat of his Lions injury woes, Pivac added: “That wasn’t the discussion, and our medical team was in South Africa.
“I don’t think they will write Alun Wyn Jones off after what happened in South Africa. We will get it scanned, and then we will know a lot more, come Monday.”
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The news does not look so promising for flanker Ross Moriarty, who went off just before half-time nursing a shoulder problem.
“Ross’ is an AC joint,” Pivac said. “He was in quite a bit of pain, so that doesn’t look too good.”
New Zealand equalled their record-winning margin against Wales in Cardiff, but it was not until the final quarter that they cut loose, scoring four tries after Wales hauled themselves back to just 12 points adrift.
It extended New Zealand’s relentless winning run against Wales, and they are unbeaten in the fixture since 1953.
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Beauden Barrett’s try double, in his 100th Test, plus TJ Perenara, Will Jordan, Dalton Papalii, Sevu Reece and Anton Lienert-Brown touchdowns kept New Zealand in charge, while Jordie Barrett kicked 19 points.
Wales battled hard in front of a 70,000-plus Principality Stadium crowd, but they were ultimately outclassed and restricted to a second-half try for centre Johnny Williams, with Gareth Anscombe booting two penalties and Rhys Priestland adding a penalty and conversion.
Pivac said: “Clearly, the last 20 minutes showed a difference in fitness levels. You are talking about a side that has been playing international rugby on the road for a couple of months.
“We’ve got some work to do in that area, and we are going to work as hard as we can over the next seven days before the next opponent. We knew about the game for a long time, and we were excited with the squad we had.
“At the end of the day, at 28-16 with 18 minutes to go I was very pleased with the performance to that point, but it is small margins, as I say, and sides punish you.
“The performance today will definitely have helped for us on the road to (World cup) 2023. I thought Taine Basham was probably our man-of-the-match, and his confidence will go through the roof. We are going to look at the positives, and we will build on that performance for next week.
“Someone like Taine I thought stood out, he played very well. At 28-16 we are back in the game to a degree, and we gave away a silly penalty, and it was game over at that point.
“We had two weeks to focus on this match, and we wanted to get as many learnings out of it as we could.”
Wales stars like Dan Biggar and Louis Rees-Zammit will be available to face the Springboks following their club commitments, but it remains to be seen how many of Pivac’s sizeable injured contingent recover in time.
Comments on RugbyPass
I still see nothing in Sotutus play that hes changed his upright running style that failed so many times against decent international defences like the french. Other than that… Iose? Well you have covered his limitations well. If Sititi had been playing the the season… Jacobson? Grace?…Neither shout pick me. So Ardie it is.
1 Go to commentsThere isn’t one element you mentioned there that every top class or successful team gets up to. The great All blacks sides used to play on the ‘fringes or edge’ but it was essentially saying they were doing something illegal or borderline to gain dominance. The fine margins at the top are minute between the top sides. La Rochelle, the crusaders, Saracens, Toulon etc etc…..have all been accused. Get over it, the comment comes across as salty and naive. Northampton as well as they played to get back into the match were thoroughly beaten and controlled for 60 minutes and Leinster have only themselves to blame for kicking it away and hence losing control of the match and being nearly the architects of their own downfall.
2 Go to commentsThere is some talent coming thru thats for sure. The 10 looks special to me. Rico Simpson is a name to look for in the future.
1 Go to commentsI think this quiet honestly is just an innocent misunderstanding by someone who is pig sh*t stupid. Eben is a fine player but by christ, if he can’t understand or get what the Irish players were trying to say to him after the match…..well i hope he has someone looking after his finances, career and is reading the fine print for him, cause life after rugby may be quite difficult for the vacuous echo chamber.
27 Go to commentsIt could be Doris' day!
3 Go to commentsThe whole thing has blown up because Eben’s words have clearly struck a nerve in Ireland. Otherwise they would just laugh it off. I think some former Irish players, commentators and some Irish fans know deep down this Ireland team started to believe its own press and that a certain amount of arrogance had started to creep in during the World Cup. The topic was actually brought up by Irish pundits on Off the Ball recently. It’s fine to be arrogant if you can back it up. Ireland didn’t.
27 Go to comments‘The Irish are good people'. Why is Goode praising a people who hate his own? Wet wipe.
27 Go to commentsLa mejor final que se puede ver en el emisferio norte.
1 Go to commentsA lot of cope from south africans in the comments. Etzebeth is a liar and a hypocrite; you don’t have to defend him!
27 Go to commentsHe got big and really slow for a flyhalf…not sure he’s relevant in a bok conversation anymore
4 Go to commentsBest tourney team vs best team in the regular season for 3 games in RSA - talk is cheap, let’s see what’s what on the tour
27 Go to commentsOne overlooked statistic from their 2016 winning season is the Huricanes are still the only team in Super rugby history not to concede a try during the playoff rounds.
4 Go to commentsThanks for the article, Nick. The Nienaber blitz D does ask a lot of its scrumhalf. I have been watching JGP on D and he often looks like he has mastered what Nienaber asks for better than Faf de Klerk and Cobus Reinach! 🤣 Impressive season by JGP if I must make an understatement.
22 Go to commentsOkay last one. I promise. I think it’s despicable for Andy Goode to suggest that Eben can’t count to 12. To be fair he only had to count to 8 - the number of Irishmen who DIDN’T say that. Less the 3 kiwis of course. 23 - 12 - 3 = 8. See Joe. I can do maffs.
27 Go to commentsCheers, Nick! How do you see the Reds’ Jock Campbell’s play this year? Not as strong a carrier as Andrew Kellaway or Tom Wright, but does avoid errors. Do you see Joe Schmidt as wanting safety first at 15 or a try-assisting counterattacker?
91 Go to commentsI’m sure this was all just a big misunderstanding. Irishmen and Afrikaaners conversing in a noisey stadium. Not easy to get the right messages across. A minefield.
27 Go to commentsSay what you will about Andy Goode. But he is right about one thing… I’m not sure what that one thing is exactly… but I’m willing to hear him out.
27 Go to commentsAnother article to bait and trigger Irish fans. This must stop.
27 Go to commentsHi Nick. Thanks for your +++ ongoing analysis. Re Vunivalu, He’s been benched recently and it will be interesting to see what Kiss does with him as we enter the backend of SRP. I’m still not sold.
91 Go to commentsIn the fine tradition of Irish rugby, Leinster cheat well and for some reason only known to whoever referees them, they are allowed to get away with it every single game. If teams have not got the physicality up front to stop them getting the ball, they will win every single game. They take out players beyond the ruck and often hold them on the ground. Those that are beyond the ruck and therefore offside, hover there to cause distraction but also to join the next ruck from the side thereby stopping the jackal. The lineout prior to the second try on Saturday. 3 Leinster players left the lineout before the ball was thrown and were driving the maul as soon as the player hit the ground and thereby getting that valuable momentum. They scrummage illegally, with the looshead turning in to stop the opposing tighthead from pushing straight and making it uncomfortable for the hooker. The tighthead takes a step and tries to get his opposite loosehead to drop the bind. Flankers often ‘move up’ and actually bind on the prop and not remain bound to the second row. It does cause chaos and is done quickly and efficiently so that referees are blinded by the illegal tactics. I am surprised opposition coaches when they meet referees before games don’t mention it. I am also surprised that they do not go to the referees group and ask them to look at the tactics used and referee them properly. If they are the better team and win, fair play but a lot of their momentum is gained illegally and therefore it is not a level playing field.
2 Go to comments