Don’t write off Jamie, we can still hit 50 mark
JONATHAN Davies is one game short of a half-century of international starts alongside Jamie Roberts – and he isn’t giving up on the prospect of the pair reaching their 50.
Roberts may have been omitted from the Wales squad for the 2017 Under Armour Series this month, but Davies has warned against writing off the 93 times capped Harlequins centre ahead of the 2019 World Cup.
“It is strange not having Jamie around. Nearly every squad I have been involved in, he has been in it,” said Davies.
“We’ve played a lot of rugby together and, from where we started, and the questions people raised about us not being able to play together, I think we’ve showed we have a pretty decent record.
“It’s not over for Jamie, this will spur him on now to make sure he performs for his club. With the Six Nations around the corner, if you put in big performances in the Champions Cup, you put your hand up for the squad.
“We are widening the player base in and around the back line moving forward to 2019 and the competition is fierce. Scott Williams is back in now, so it is a new challenge, and now it is making sure I’m developing relationships with the new faces in the squad.
“I’m not quite the senior partner yet – Rhys Priestland is back and he is now the eldest back. Hadleigh Parkes is older than me, but I’m getting up there, although luckily I don’t look as old as some!”
With 63 Welsh caps to his name, two highly successful British & Irish Lions Test series to look back on, including being named as the Lions man of the series in New Zealand in the summer, Davies might not want to be considered the senior citizen, but he is one of the star acts.
But with Roberts looking on from the outside this month it will fall on Davies to nurture some of the younger players in the newlook Welsh squad, like his Scarlets team mate Steff Evans and Ospreys centre Owen Watkin.
“It has been good, a breath of fresh air, with the new boys coming in full of energy and looking to stake their claim. It is good for competition,” said Davies.
“It just shows they’ve had their opportunity and taken it, none more so than Steff. He deserves the callup because he’s been outstanding at the Scarlets.
“If he is picked to play, we’ll have to get the ball to him as much as we can. I’m also looking forward to working with Owen.
“He hasn’t had much rugby this year but seems to be up to speed and showed some nice touches against Clermont and Saracens.
“There are going to be some new faces in the 23 for our first game against Australia. We want to get our new style going and get tempo into our game.
“With 2019 just around the corner a good autumn would propel us confidently into the Six Nations and help us to build momentum. We are looking for some big results.
“It starts with Australia and we haven’t beaten them for a long time, but with the talent we’ve got we can be very competitive and get the results we want.
“Traditionally we have been slow starters in the autumn so our sole focus is making sure we hit the ground running in week one.
“We don’t want to wait until week two or three to really hit our straps. It’s a big ask, but the boys have reacted well in training and have really trained hard.”