Lam’s Bears could benefit as Sheedy’s left out of Wales tour
BRISTOL Bears fly-half Callum Sheedy has not been selected for Wales’ summer tour to South Africa.
Sheedy, 26, has 16 caps for Wales and featured three times off the bench during the 2022 Guinness Six Nations however men’s head coach Wayne Pivac has opted to leave him out of the summer series.
Instead, Pivac has opted to take Northampton Saints’ Dan Biggar, who has also been named captain once again, along with Osprey’s Gareth Anscombe and Scarlets’ Rhys Patchell as his stand-off options as part of a 33-player squad for the three-Test Series in South Africa this July.
While the exclusion will no doubt come as a disappointment for Sheedy, his loss of a grip on a place in the Welsh national side could provide a boost to Bears director of rugby Pat Lam when it comes to trying to keep the Welshman at the club beyond his current contract.
Under the WRU selection criteria rules Sheedy, who will be competing for the starting 10 jersey at the Bears with USA international AJ MacGinty next season, will be ineligible for Wales selection if he re-signs with
Bristol beyond his current contract which has at least another season to run.
Bristol’s talented utility back Ioan Lloyd has also been overlooked once again having earned two caps off the bench in the Autumn of 2020 only to be cast aside, although at still just 21 it is far too soon to be writing off his international career.
Asked in midweek whether he has concerns about being able to keep Sheedy and Lloyd at the club, Lam said: “At the moment it is not a problem. They are Bears players and that is the most important thing at the moment. Ioan is here for at least two more years and at the moment they are not in the Welsh squad so it is a non-issue.
“They enjoy it here and they want to stay and we will just crack on until it is an issue. Everything can change, you never know what is around the corner.”
As for those who are in the Welsh squad this summer, George North and Dan Lydiate return for international duty after extended periods out with injury. Ospreys’ teammate Sam Parry, who spent a brief spell on loan at Bristol, will join them in camp with Wales. There are two uncapped players: Cardiff Rugby’s James Ratti is called up after featuring in the Six Nations squad while Leicester Tigers’ Tommy Reffell is selected in a Wales senior men’s squad for the first time.
Pivac said: “We’ve had some players come back from injury like George North so that’s exciting for the squad. Some players have been ruled out through injury, so there’s naturally going to be change there. Then we’ve looked at players’ form, who we are playing, where we’re playing - we have two games at altitude - and what our gameplan will be when considering selection.
“I spoke to Tommy Reffell before we announced the squad for the Six Nations. We looked hard at Tommy and decided to leave him out then. He’s played very well since, he’s been very consistent - one of the most consistent players in the English Premiership so we feel that he deserves an opportunity.”
The first Test against the Springboks will be held at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday 2 July. From there Pivac’s squad will head to the Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein (9 July) for the second Test, before completing the series at DHL Stadium in Cape Town on Saturday 16 July.
The two sides’ last fixture was during the 2021 Autumn Nations Series where Wales were defeated 23-18 at Principality Stadium.
■ Pat Lam has revealed his plans for the Bristol Bears coaching team to deal with the departure of former All Black John Afoa this summer.
Afoa, 38, has been a player-coach at Bristol this season responsible for the scrum after replacing Alasdair Dickinson last summer following the Scotsman’s switch to Glasgow Warriors.
But Afoa’s move to French ProD2 side RC Vannes this summer, where he will hold a similar role, leaves Lam with a hole in his coaching staff.
Lam said: “Dave Ward (Bristol Bears Womens head coach) has been working behind the scenes as well this season. John, it is difficult as a player-coach, it is something we tried, but Dave’s been there to plug the holes and he’ll be a part of our coaching group moving on.
“Dave’s done a phenomenal job with our women’s program as head coach. I am really pleased.”
Ward, 36, was a hooker in his playing days having come through the ranks at Bath. He went on to play for Harlequins, Northampton Saints, Sale Sharks, Ampthill and Cornish Pirates. He came very close to being capped by England, touring with the side to New Zealand in 2014 - but he did not feature in a Test.
Ward was appointed head coach of Bristol Bears women in April 2021 and has coached the side to a top four finish with the team facing Exeter Chiefs in the Premier 15s play-off semi-final in Devon on Sunday with a place in the final against Saracens or Harlequins up for grabs.