Wales brace for life without ‘main man’ Jones
With injury ruling captain out of Six Nations, Wayne Pivac is looking for Adam Beard and others to step up and fill void
It is the scenario no one really wants to talk about: Wales without Alun Wyn Jones. The lock and captain has played so well into his mid-thirties that his age – 36, for the record – had almost become an afterthought.
Consecutive left shoulder injuries this year have now left Wales facing that reality, with Jones set to miss not only the rest of Wales’s games this autumn but also the 2022 Six Nations. Jones’s absence gives Wayne Pivac two areas to address – who replaces Jones in the line-up, obviously, but also who do Wales turn to for the leadership and influence that Jones has over the side, particularly since the retirement of Sam Warburton?
Pivac remains convinced that Jones can play on until the next World Cup and unless his performances dip then it is hard to see a reason not to have Jones around. But strong alternative options, both at lock and in terms of captaincy, now have to be considered and tested thoroughly during Jones’s time away over the next few weeks and during the Six Nations.
A new lock
The Wales second-row cupboard used to be healthy, with any of Adam Beard, Cory Hill and Jake Ball available
to partner Jones when called upon. Now, though, only Beard is left standing.
Sent away to work on his game by Pivac before returning to the fold, Beard is now running Wales’s line-out and feels absolutely integral to the side in Jones’s absence. “I’m full of admiration for Adam,” Pivac said this week. “He leads our line-out, so he’ll be in charge of that on the weekend and Will Rowlands will take the defensive side of the line-out off Al. But [Beard] knows there is a big void to be filled and Adam really wants to step up and take on more responsibility, which is fantastic. I think you’ll see a big game from Adam.” What Wales lose with Jones ruled out is a phenomenal work rate, both hitting rucks but also with his tackling, having recorded 75 in the Six Nations behind only Justin Tipuric, Charles Ollivon and Taulupe Faletau. The onus is now on Rowlands, in particular, to partially fill that void.
New leaders
Jonathan Davies led Wales after he missed out on the British and Irish Lions tour, which in hindsight was a shrewd move, given he now seems set to captain Wales over the coming months during Jones’s absence.
Davies communicated well with referee Mathieu Raynal last Saturday, getting his point across in a controlled manner following the Ross Moriarty injury.
It is a good week to bring Dan Biggar back, too, adding another senior voice in the back line, and Beard will be required to step up not only as a lock but as leader in the heart of Wales’s pack. This would have been an ideal week for Ken Owens to return, given his own captaincy experience and Wales’s issues at the line-out last week, particularly when in attacking positions on New Zealand’s five-metre line. But Owens’s back issue is set to keep him out until perhaps the Australia game, maybe beyond that.
“There’s still plenty of experience there, but removing the main man if you like, it’s a collective that will take over from where Alun Wyn left off,” Pivac said.