The changing faces ofWales... so who’s left as McBryde plots win over Samoa?
AMID the furore and acrimony surrounding Warren Gatland’s contentious decision to call up four of Wales’ touring squad as bench-warmers for his Lions midweek match against the Chiefs, spare a thought for Robin McBryde as he and his depleted party head to Samoa.
While the names of Kristian Dacey, Cory Hill and Tomas Francis may be relative unknowns to those not up to speed on the Welsh game, the trio represented three of the more experienced forwards in McBryde’s fresh-faced summer squad.
All three, as well as Scarlets scrumhalf Gareth Davies, started in the gritty 24-6 win over Tonga in Auckland last Friday and it means Wales will take on their next assignment in Apia having to field one of the most inexperienced line-ups they have ever had put on an international rugby field.
There were fewer caps on show four years ago in Japan, but the presence of double British Lion Jamie Roberts, who now has 92 Welsh appearances to his name, skews the overall figure for the class of 2017.
Take out the combined midfield tally — Scott Williams has 47 caps — and the rest of the likely starting side boasts a mere 56 Wales appearances between them, that’s an average of just over four each.
Up front, the pack could have less than 30 caps between them and the front five just 16, with 23-year-old loose-head Nicky Smith carrying 13 of those.
To compound matters, wing Alex Cuthbert, a Lions Test wing four years ago and along with Roberts one of the old heads of the group, has been ruled out of the remainder of the trip with a shoulder injury.
ROB LLOYD looks at the kind of rookie side McBryde could put out in Apia. BACKS The caretaker coach will be forced into at least two changes behind the scrum following the hard-earned win at Eden Park.
Cory Allen replaced try-scorer Cuthbert for the second half and will be favourite to do the same again, although is there a better opportunity to give the uncapped Keelan Giles a chance to showcase his talent on what is sure to be a fast track in Apia?
The loss of Scarlets half-back Gareth Davies to the Lions means it’s a straight call between regional colleague Aled, who won his first cap off the bench late on against Tonga, or the uncapped Cardiff Blues scrum-half Tomos Williams.
It will be a major surprise if McBryde opts to alter the rest of his back division, although Tyler Morgan or Owen Williams ould come into contention in midfield with Scott Williams out of sorts in Auckland. FORWARDS Step forward Nicky Smith, who with 13 caps and four starts, could be the most experienced player in the Welsh front five on Friday.
With Dacey and Francis on the bench against the Chiefs, Scarlets hooker Ryan Elias and Blues tight-head prop Dillon Lewis — who both made their international bow as replacements against Tonga — are set to join Smith in a rookie front row, although McBryde could fall back on Scott Baldwin’s experience. In terms of second rows, Wales headed south already shorn of Alun Wyn Jones, Jake Ball, Bradley Davies and Luke Charteris and are now without their tour vice-captain in Hill.
That leaves 21-year-old Seb Davies, a debutant against Tonga, set to pack down alongside either 21-year-old Adam Beard or 22-year-old Rory Thornton, who are both waiting to become the 10th new cap of the trip.
The back row combination is at least intact. Against Tonga, the breakaway trio of Aaron Shingler, Josh Navidi and Thomas Young — who went into the game with a combined tally of nine caps — performed strongly, although Ellis Jenkins made a big impression off the bench and will be disappointed if he doesn’t start against Samoa.
McBryde is scheduled to name his side on Tuesday evening.
It is fair to say options are limited.