SCARLETS MAKE MOVE FOR BREW
THE Scarlets have signed wing Aled Brew.
The Wales international has linked up with the West Wales region as short-term injury cover, with Johnny Mcnicholl set to be sidelined for up to eight weeks because of an ankle injury.
And with Tomi Lewis facing the possibility of 12 months out recovering from knee surgery, head coach Glenn Delaney has moved to bring in the 34-year-old.
The Scarlets could also lose a number of back-three men to Test duty in the coming weeks, including Liam Williams, Leigh Halfpenny and potentially Steff Evans, further stretching their resources.
They have a number of promising youngsters at the region – Tom Rogers, Ioan Nicholas and Ryan Conbeer among them – but, aside from Tom Prydie, they could be light on experienced cover in the short term.
Capped nine times by Wales, Brew played in the 2011 World Cup and has also seen action with the Ospreys, Dragons, Cardiff Blues and Biarritz, as well as Bath.
Scarlets head coach Delaney said: “Unfortunately, we have picked up a couple of injuries in the back three with Johnny and Tomi and we expect others to be involved with Wales this autumn.
“We have some talented youngsters coming through, but Aled brings that added top-level experience as we prepare for what will be a demanding few months for our squad.”
Mcnicholl will miss Wales’s autumn international campaign as fears over the ankle injury he suffered during the European Challenge Cup quarter-final clash with Toulon were confirmed.
He had to be helped off the field after lengthy treatment, so the signs did not look good at the time.
The former Crusaders try machine, who has just turned 30, will be out of action until late November.
That rules him out of the bulk of Wales’s six-match autumn programme, which runs from October 24 to December 5.
Mcnicholl made his Test debut against Italy in February, having qualified on the three-year residency rule, and then came on as a replacement in the next three Six Nations matches.
He joins the list of sidelined Wales wing contenders.
His Scarlets team-mate Williams hasn’t played since March and is currently out with a foot problem.
Owen Lane of Cardiff Blues is yet to make his comeback having sustained significant hamstring damage in January, and then picked up a calf problem.
World Cup hero Josh Adams is back fit and firing, and George North will be available for the autumn opener against France after a preseason friendly between the Ospreys and Scarlets was deemed to count towards his four-game ban, picked up for his sending off against the Dragons.
There could yet be a Test debut for teenager Louis Rees-zammit, who continues to rack up the tries for Gloucester.
Steff Evans and Ashton Hewitt have been in fine form for the Scarlets and Dragons respectively, while Jonah Holmes and Hallam Amos would be further options.
Meanwhile, there’s better news on the injury front about Halfpenny. He was taken off for a head injury assessment during the Scarlets’ defeat in Toulon and didn’t return to the field.
But he has now completed the HIA process and is back in full training.
With Williams still sidelined, Halfpenny is favourite to be Wales’s No. 15 come the start of the autumn campaign.