WRU issue statement after Halfpenny left out of Scarlets side
Leigh Halfpenny won’t get a chance to prove his match fitness ahead of the Guinness Six Nations game with England after being left out of the Scarlets squad to face Benetton in the PRO 14 clash at Stadio Monigo on Saturday.
Halfpenny hasn’t played since picking up a head knock last November against Australia, suffering from concussion symptoms.
The Welsh Rugby Union issued a statement over the decision and said “Leigh Halfpenny was not considered for the Scarlets fixture against Benetton Rugby this weekend.
“Although Leigh has returned to full training, it was collectively decided that he should continue training fully with the hope he will be available for selection in the imminent future.
Scarlets head coach Wayne Pivac has selected Josh Macleod as his captain for the game with Benetton and reflected on his team’s history with the opposition ahead of this weekend’s game.
“They’re an improved side, last year in the same window they beat us at their play. They’ve got a side now that with added few players is adding a bit of spark. A couple of good wingers on the outside giving them a bit of power out there. Also, pace; their fitness levels have improved, they’re playing a lot more rugby, using the ball a lot more and with that, they’re going to pose a big threat!”, Pivac said.
“They have some big men, as we found earlier this season, they were a man down and they caused us a lot of problems. They play direct at times and then move the ball around sometimes, so they’re asking a few questions to the defence. We’re gonna have to make sure we bring a lot of physicality to this game and more of what we’ve been seeing in the Six Nations.”.
Commenting on injury comebacks, Pivac, went on to say: “We’ve got a few back, which is pleasing. Lewis Rawlins is back training and managed every aspect yesterday and so he came through his injury and therefore is available for selection, which helps out Blubring, who has been ruled out since the Leinster game, giving us three fit second rows.
Will Boyde is back training with us and also Uzair Cassiem ran well yesterday. This gives us another option after Ed Kennedy picked up some trouble with his hamstring, which then gives us 3 fit loose forwards.”.
Pivac, explained his current thoughts on the PRO14 Table: “It’s exciting, we would much rather be where we were this time last year, but we’re not and that’s reality. We’ve got four teams going hard for realistically two slots and I think there’s only two points separating those four teams. Every game now is a vital one and we have to fight for every point. Whether that’s an extra try to get 5, or to come within 7 and get one. Every point is going to be vital when we wash up at the end of the season.”.
He went on to comment: “We are doing a lot of things right, we are improving as a group and we’re playing without a lot of big names and getting ourselves in positions where we can win these games. We’re not far off, we believe if we can accumulate enough points over the next 3 weeks, we can get some of the big boys back; some of the injured boys back and we’ve got a pretty good run on in the last month.”.
Scarlets team to take on Benetton at Stadio Monigo, Saturday 16th February, kick-off 17:15 (GMT):
15 Johnny McNicholl, 14 Ioan Nicholas, 13 Kieron Fonotia, 12 Paul Asquith, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Dan Jones, 9 Kieran Hardy, 1 Phil Price, 2 Marc Jones, 3 Werner Kruger, 4 Josh Helps, 5 Tom Price, 6 Josh Macleod ©, 7 Dan Davis, 8 Uzair Cassiem
Replacements:
16 Dafydd Hughes, 17 Dylan Evans, 18 Simon Gardiner, 19 Lewis Rawlins, 20 Will Boyde, 21 Jon Evans, 22 Rhys Patchell, 23 Steff Hughes
Injury updates:
James Davies – Foot, Tom Phillips – Hamstring, Steve Cummins – Shoulder, Blade Thomson – Concussion, Angus O’Brien – Knee, Aaron Shingler – Knee, Taylor Davies – Hamstring, Ryan Conbeer – Ankle, Ed Kennedy – Hamstring, David Bulbring – Ankle/Knee, Corey Baldwin – Ankle, Leigh Halfpenny – Concussion
Comments on RugbyPass
Farcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
7 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe 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.
7 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 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.
11 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.
61 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.
7 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
61 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
55 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
61 Go to comments