Navidi backed to step into Tipuric’s boots
... and Wales lock Jake says mauls were ruled out to avoid potential fireworks 24 hours late!
TAULUPE Faletau is backing Josh Navidi to come up trumps as the chances of Justin Tipuric being declared fit to face Australia on Saturday hang by a thread.
Versatile Cardiff Blues back-row forward is believed to be favourite to start at openside flanker, with Scarlets’ Aaron Shingler at blindside.
Thigh-muscle victim Tupuric, if he fails to make it, would join a No.7 injury list which includes Lions skipper Sam Warburton, Ellis Jenkins, Ollie Griffiths and James Davies, while Wasps’ Thomas Young was left out of coach Warren Gatland’s squad for autumn assignments against the Wallabies, Georgia, New Zealand and South Africa.
“Everybody knows the quality of Justin. I think he’s struggling a little bit for the weekend, but with the players who have been picked in the squad there’ll be an opportunity for someone else to step in and play that role,” said his Lions team-mate Faletau.
“They’ve been playing well for their clubs and warrant being here. I’m sure they’ll do the same thing for Wales.
“We are here because we can play rugby – we are not picked for no apparent reason.
“We back ourselves to win against anybody.”
Tipuric and Rhys Webb, who has a knee problem, are the major injury doubts, with 2015 World Cup scrumhalf Gareth Davies set to wear No.9.
Olympic Sevens silver medallist Sam Cross could come into the equation to provide back-row cover on the bench after just two games of professional 15-a-side rugby.
“We are just waiting until the last minute when we name the team on Thursday, to give them as much time as possible and then make an educated decision,” said Wales defence coach Shaun Edwards. And he insisted: “They will have to take part in training before Thursday to put their hands up for selection. “If not, they will look to put their hands up for the week after. It’s a four-game series. “They were both on the British Lions tour and both of them played very well out there in New Zealand. “But I always say, if one man goes down, the next man will come in and he will be just as determined as well.”
GEORGE Kruis insists European champions England resisted the urge to “smash-up” Wales during yesterday’s unprecedented training session in Bristol in order to gain an insight into their setpiece strength.
The Six Nations rivals locked horns at Bristol’s Clifton College, completing 12 scrums and 16 line-outs over 40 minutes under the scrutiny of the world’s leading referee Nigel Owens, in an effort to hone their scrum and line-out work ahead of their upcoming autumn internationals.
It had been dubbed the ‘Battle of Bristol’ by England prop Harry Williams and while that description proved inaccurate – the session passed without incident – both packs were given a valuable work-out.
“There was definitely intent there. I’d say we were professional enough to control ourselves and understand it was a training tool rather than a smash-up on the Monday of a Test week,” said Lions lock Kruis.
“We went in there trying to get a squeeze on and as much out of it as we could.
“We wanted to win every scrum and wanted the intent, but it also gave ourselves the opportunity to trial a few things and see where we’re at.
“It was under Test-match intensity, but was a good tool for us. It definitely lets us know where we’re at as a pack and has shown us things that maybe we need to work on for this week.
“Because it’s happened nice and early in the week, it’s given us time to fix up and tweak anything that we need to.
“It’s tough sometimes training against yourselves because you know the calls, you know what they’re going to do.
“Wales didn’t know what we were going to bring, it was reffed by a topquality referee which puts pressure onto your delivery and everything that comes with it.”
And Wales lock Jake Ball revealed the rival packs didn’t maul against each other because of the danger of a wrestling match for the ball exploding into fireworks.
The work-out, which took place in front of hundreds of watching schoolchildren, was staged to help Wales prepare for Saturday’s autumn Test series opener with Australia and England for their clash with Argentina at Twickenham.
“It was good to go through our processes against England,” beamed Scarlets star Ball.
“We just wanted to make sure we got something out of it. I thought it was a good battle and we did get something out of it.
“We had some really good scrums and we’re happy with our line-out as well. The line-out were all spot-on deliveries.
“There wasn’t any live mauling because that could have potentially kicked off a bit,” he quipped.
“When you train against each other week-in, week-out, everyone finds out what are your weaknesses, so it was nice to go up against an England pack you didn’t know too much about.
“It had an added edge because it was against England and you want to put your right foot forward yourself as a player.”
All the talk in the build-up to the Aussie clash has been about Wales playing a more attacking game, but Ball warned there was a time and place for it.
“A lot of people think an expansive game is just passing the ball along the line, but you actually have to make the room to do that,” he stressed.
“There’s not a hell of lot of room in international rugby compared to regional, so it’s about getting the balance right and ending up on the right side of the scoreboard.”
Australia are bidding to extend their unbeaten streak in all Tests to seven and 13 over Wales, whose last victory against them occurred nine years ago.
“Australia have got some attacking threats across the board. That’s where defence comes into it and making sure they don’t have a lot of time on the ball,” added Ball.
Wales, Lions and Bath No.8 Taulupe Faletau was happy with how the training session went.
He said: “It was good. They’re a quality outfit and it was great to test ourselves against them and vice versa.
“There was a chance to catch up at the end, but during the session everybody tried to get out of it what they needed to.
“It was something we’ve never done and there was that extra edge because we were going up against a national side.
“They were players we’re not used to going up against and with the quality they’ve got it was about making sure we did our bits right.”
Faletau claimed the scrums were “equal”, adding: “We had some good ones, they had some good ones ... you know what scrums are like, I don’t have a clue what’s happening myself most of the time!”