Why Callum fits the bill for Pivac’s Wales
WHEN Callum Sheedy was called into Wayne Pivac’s Wales squad earlier this month, much of the talk focused on his decision to choose Wales over England and Ireland.
The Bristol playmaker was eligible for three different nations, but has declared he’s Cardiff-born and Cardiff -bred – with a matching accent to boot.
Now the decision has been made, thoughts turn to what impact he can make in the red jersey.
As he prepares to link up with the squad after an impressive performance for Bristol in their Challenge Cup triumph over Toulon, here’s what makes Sheedy such a good fit for Pivac’s Wales.
‘THE GREAT FACILITATOR’ Despite the tug of war over Sheedy, his recent call-up was for his efforts on the pitch, not some attempt to “capture” him before someone else did.
Sheedy’s 60-second phone call with Pivac to confirm his interest in pulling on the Welsh jersey tells you as much.
Instead, he’s been selected for the Wales squad for how he’s pulled the strings of the star-studded Bristol backline this year.
Working with the talent he has at his disposal, Sheedy has cultivated something of a reputation as a “socks-down playmaker”, with one of his greatest strengths being how he gives the talent around him as much time as possible to thrive.
One of the ways he does this is with his brave passing game.
Sheedy is full of ambition when it comes to passing and how he sets up in attack. Against Toulon on Friday, the 24-year-old wasn’t as devastating as he can be – instead putting in a more composed yet near-faultless display which befitted a final.
However, he still found opportunities to show his range of passing and reading of the game.
Sheedy showed his range of passing all night, whether it was a drawback to get the backs into play from first or second receiver, an inside ball or the long sweeping pass as shown above.
Whether it’s a long or short ball, Sheedy is just a really neat player.
He’s also really adept at running what’s known as a slice play – where two outside-backs, usually the centres, perform a switch outside. If he does get a start this autumn, expect Pivac to make use of this – hitting Jonathan Davies hard outside on an angle or releasing Nick Tompkins into more space wider out.
In Bristol’s flowing 1-3-2-2 pod formation, Sheedy runs the show. Wales are looking to move to a similar formation under Pivac and Sheedy could be a good fit.
“Callum has shown that he really gets the modern game,” Mark Ring recently told the Rugby Paper.
“Pat Lam has given him carte blanche to play it as he sees it.
“He has the complete package for the modern game.
“He is also a shining example of the fact that you don’t have to play flat all the time.”
As Ring alludes to, playing flat is often cited as what a fly-half should do more often than not to bring about gainline success and break down defences, but Sheedy is able to recognise when playing a little deeper can stretch teams
Sheedy is more than capable in breaking down teams in the jaws of their defence, but the ability to know when to give himself a bit of space is a handy one to possess.
Jamie Cudmore once quipped that
Regan King had “put more people into space than NASA”. Sheedy isn’t quite there yet.
But if Bristol have been the “great entertainers” with some of their attacking play recently, then the Cardiff-born product is the “great facilitator”.
A RUNNING GAME AFTER PIVAC’S HEART
It’s not just his passing game that causes defences issues. It’s also his eye for a half-gap.
Again, Friday didn’t always see Sheedy get the opportunity to have a dart himself but he did show those traits in smaller doses.
Sheedy as a runner is deceptively elusive. He keeps his shoulders square and the ball in two hands, meaning the pass can come at any point.
From there, he’s also able to carry well while maintaining that open body position, meaning he can be in the face of defenders before they realise he’s looking to carry rather than distribute.
Against Toulon, he used this to solid effect at times – on one occasion creating an overlap by holding onto the ball and drifting across the defence, sucking in tacklers.
In the attacking system Bristol use, Sheedy often takes the ball at secondreceiver – meaning there are more running options for him in motion.
In the Challenge Cup quarter-final, he recognised a dog-leg in the Dragons’ defence and scarpered past Jamie Roberts on the inside, setting up Semi Radradra for a fine try with an offload.
And on a previous occasion, he scythed past Bath forwards Lewis Boyce and Taulupe Faletau to set up a score which led to a first win at the Rec in 14 years.
Speaking about Sheedy’s game, it’s clear from Pat Lam that his running game is a big part of why he’s in possession of the No. 10 jersey.
“The big thing about Cal is that he runs our game really well”, the Bristol boss said. “His biggest attributes are his control and composure, his running game and his ability to put others into space.
“Cal could take the team talk because he understands the kind of game I want to play.”
In many ways, that plays into Pivac’s own game. At the Scarlets, Rhys Patchell
often took the ball to the line as a running threat – keeping the defence honest and forcing team-mates to take on added responsibility in Pivac’s pursuit of an all-court game.
If the fly-half is troubling defences as a carrier, then it means someone – be it a forward or an outside back – has to step in as a ball-player on the next phase.
That was one of the biggest strengths of Pivac’s Scarlets team which conquered the PRO12.
COPING WITH THE PRESSURE
When it comes to Sheedy’s kicking game, you can break it down into three parts.
When it comes to longer kicks, Sheedy will probably have some lessons to learn on the Test stage –where space is at a premium.
His shorter kicking game is a bit more developed and deft, with his range of attacking kicks causing problems for Premiership defences – with one deft grubber against Gloucester standing out in the memory banks, while the deft chip to the wing for Alapati Leiua to finish off that break against Bath is another.
The final part of his kicking game was one which was to the fore on Friday night.
Sheedy hasn’t always classed himself as a solid goalkicker. He once told Rugby World he was “a pathetic goalkicker” at the age of 17, not even taking on the duties from the tee for his school, Millfield.
But since then, he’s come on a fair bit – with his gun-kicking against Toulon the culmination of his work.
In many regards, his goal-kicking is a fine summary of his time under Lam, who wasn’t the biggest fan of Sheedy when he arrived in Bristol.
“It’s been a long journey for him,” said Lam. “He was third or fourth choice when I arrived at the club and that’s testament to how hard he’s worked.”
But the tough love and pressure of his director of rugby, who once sent a message onto the pitch that the conversion Sheedy was lining up would send Bristol top of the Premiership, has seen the fly-half thrive.
For what it’s worth, Sheedy nailed the conversion.
What odds he fits into the Wales setup just as well in the coming weeks?