Howells returns after injury nightmare
DAFYDD Howells will draw a line under six months of injury misery when he launches his Ospreys’ comeback in Edinburgh this weekend, writes Mark Orders.
The wing with the Rolls-Royce acceleration hasn’t featured for his region since the clash with the Scarlets in Llanelli last May, a shoulder injury ruling him out. But he returns for the the Guinness PRO14 date against Richard Cockerill’s Edinburgh at Myreside this evening.
A number of worrying injuries, including a hamstring problem that required surgery, have blighted his progress and left him in serious danger of joining the ranks of forgotten Wales internationals.
That said, at just 22 – and notwithstanding that he seems to have been around for years – he still has time to MYRESIDE 5.30pm EDINBURGH v OSPREYS get his act together.
He shot to prominence when Shaun Edwards spotted him playing for Wales Under-18s in the FIRA championship in Grenoble in 2013. Howells then scored a wonderful solo try for Neath in the Swalec Cup final against Pontypridd, adding to the belief that he was a player worth looking out for.
He received his Wales call after just seven games of senior rugby – two for the Ospreys, five for Neath – and won two caps against Japan in the same year, the then schoolboy taking his books on tour to study in between matches.
But the rugby road can be a bumpy one to travel and that bright start rapidly gave way to a series of injury setbacks that have checked Howells’ momentum.
The Ospreys will hope he rapidly hits the ground running as they head into a spell when they will be without their current internationals.
They are still able to field 11 Test men in their starting line-up for the date in Scotland with three more on the bench.
Scott Baldwin starts his first match since being bitten by a lion while in Africa for the game against the Cheetahs in September. Sam Davies begins at fly-half for the first time since the game with Munster on September 16.
There are still 17 players missing, however – nine on Wales duty, eight injured – and Steve Tandy has made clear players who are coming into the set-up need to make the most of their opportunities.
“With boys away on international duty over the next month, it’s important that people coming into the matchday 23 take their chance and really show what they are about,” said the head coach. Edinburgh: B Kinghorn; D Fife, J Johnstone, P Burleigh, T Brown; J Tovey, N Fowles; M Rizzo, N Cochrane, S Berghan, F McKenzie, L Crosbie, C du Preez, J Ritchie. Reps: C Fenton, R Sutherland, M McCallum, M Bradbury, L Carmichael, S Hidalgo-Clyne, G Bryce, C Dean. Ospreys: D Evans; D Howells, J Hook, A Beck, T Habberfield; S Davies, B Leonard; P James (capt), S Baldwin, D Arhip, L Ashley, B Davies, O Cracknell, R McCusker, G Mercer. Reps: S Parry, G Thomas, M Fia, R Thornton, J King, R Morgan-Williams, L Price, K Fonotia. Referee: Andrew Brace (Ire).