Does the Wales spell the end of

WALES coach Warren Gatland has revealed why he won’t give up on Alex Cuthbert.

Cuthbert was named in the autumn squad on Tuesday, with the Welsh coaching team determined to try and help him return to the player who was a real force just a few years ago.

The Cardiff Blues star has seen his form dip over the past couple of seasons, but he impressed on Wales’ summer tour of Tonga and Samoa before suffering injury, scoring against the Tongans for his first Wales try since August 2015.

The 26-year-old has received a barrage of social media abuse in recent years, being singled out for blame following Wales’ Six Nations defeat against England last year.

The likes of Shane Williams and pundit Stuart Barnes also questioned the wisdom of continuing to select a player whose confidence appeared shot to pieces.

But Gatland still believes he can return Cuthbert to the player he was when he became a British Lion in 2013 on the back of demolishing England to claim the Six Nations title.

“We have picked Alex Cuthbert, who has experience, I don’t think he’s been playing badly, he’s been playing OK,” said Gatland.

“We want to try to get him back into the frame because I don’t think he’s someone we should discard if we can get him back to where he was and give him the confidence.

“He played really well against Tonga before he was injured and he’s been looking for work for the Blues as well.

“There’s a massive amount of criticism about him, but we want to see if we can get him back and we have a bit of time to do that now.”

Cuthbert is unlikely to make the Wales starting XV for the opening match against Australia on November 11, with Scarlets flyer Steff Evans favourite for a back-three spot alongside Liam Williams and Leigh Halfpenny following George North’s injury.

Evans has been perhaps the standout player in the PRO14 this season after making his Wales debut on the summer tour to Tonga and Samoa. And Gatland is impressed. “The best thing about Steff – and I always look for this in wingers – is the number of touches.

“At the moment someone like Keelan Giles is not getting a lot of touches and, for whatever reason, is trying to find his feet.

“Steff Evans goes looking for the ball.

“He’s not the quickest in the world, but he has great footwork and scores tries. He pops up off the nines and 10s and has ability to offload.

“He’s the kind of player you are looking for. We have always encouraged our wingers to have a lot of touches.

“In Wales, we don’t have a massive amount of depth and when such players come along there’s a clamour behind them.

“Our job is to pick the right time when a player is ready to take the next step.

“Aaron Shingler wasn’t quite ready a couple of years ago, but has played some exceptional rugby, did well on the summer tour and it’s great from our point of view to see him come back into the squad.

“Sometimes we force players a bit early rather than let them get experience, you can’t really

coach experience.” CHANGE has always been inevitable, but it hasn’t always felt that way watching Wales over the last few years.

There has been a lot of talk about adapting to the new ways of the world and playing a more vibrant and fastpaced game, but deeds have often fallen some way short of good intentions.

But Warren Gatland’s selection for the autumn series suggests this time he really does want to do things differently.

Jamie Roberts is a casualty and such a call is significant, with the big man symbolic of the way Wales have played these past eight years. His ability to power over the gainline and create front-foot opportunities for others has been integral to the approach used.

It needs to be said how well he has done the job.

In the early years, especially, sides found it difficult cope with the relentless midfield forays of the 6ft 4in, 17st 5lb Desperate Dan lookalike.

His charges had ‘outta my way’ written all over them, and many defenders were happy to go along with that idea. But not at the very highest level. When Wales played the likes of New Zealand, Australia or South Africa, the degree of resistance went up several notches and the game that had reaped such dividends in the north didn’t prove anything like as successful.

Gatland and Rob Howley have also left out Scott Williams. He hasn’t been at his very best this term and for a number of big games he has been on the bench for the Scarlets, which would have made it hard for the national selectors to pick him.

But the omission of two such stalwarts has raised the possibility that Wales are set on a major change of style, with the options at inside centre for the series opener against Australia including Owen Watkin, Owen Williams and maybe Rhys Patchell.

Williams has played at fly-half and inside centre for his new club Gloucester this season, while Patchell has been running the show for the Scarlets from No.10. Both are seen as options to fill the second playmaker role outside either Rhys Priestland or Dan Biggar. They are both footballers who could ease pressure on the flyhalf with their kicking and decisionmaking skills. But Watkin shouldn’t be left out of the debate – far from it. He played at No.10 throughout his schooldays and has shown for the Ospreys against Clermont Auvergne and Saracens in recent weeks that he has a wide skill set with his ability to pass, spot gaps a split-second before anyone else on the pitch and beat opponents either through power or guile. The 6ft 2in, 15st 10lb former Wales Under-20s star also showed he could push his arms through tackles and distribute in a manner Scarlets great Regan King might have been tempted to applaud. Do any of those players have the game to fill the creative void left by Gavin Henson when he prematurely