Costelow has a great future ahead of him, says Jenkins

WALES assistant coach Neil Jenkins has backed talented young fly-half Sam Costelow to be a “big player” for Wales in the years to come.

Without Dan Biggar in the recent Autumn Nations Series, Gareth Anscombe, Rhys Priestland and Costelow offered very different options for Wayne Pivac at fly-half.

And Jenkins, who knows a thing or two about playing in the No. 10 shirt, believes Scarlets man Costelow is a talent for the future.

“It’s always tough when you lose Dan as he’s world-class, but it opens the door for others like Gareth, Rhys and Sam,”

Jenkins said.

“They’re obviously different ends of their career.

“Sam is just starting his career and I think he’s going to be a big player going forward.

“Gareth and Rhys are topend players and I think they’ve played well for us.

“We’re lucky in that area that we have good players to step in.

“You want competition and players battling it out.

“We have other tens as well in Jarrod (Evans) and Callum (Sheedy) at Bristol.”

Anscombe is facing a spell on the sidelines after injuring an arm in the loss to Australia