Howley should pick Davies against England... he’d get Wales playing

WE MIGHT have seen our first potential bolter for the Lions squad in Rome on Sunday when Sam Davies stole the show in the second half with a hugely impressive display off the bench. Wales had plenty to do to turn around a 7-3 half-time deficit but Davies, who replaced the injured Dan Biggar, looked to the manor born. The young Osprey was calm and skilful, but what really caught my eye was his extreme pace and eye for a gap. The Lions don’t lack candidates at No 10. Jonny Sexton leads the way, although his litany of injury niggles is a worry, while Finn Russell and George Ford have their supporters — and there is always the option of switching Owen Farrell back to fly-half from centre. Don’t be surprised, however, if Davies, 23, comes into the mix. To beat New Zealand these days you must look to score four or five tries and rack up the points like Ireland did so gloriously when they made history in Chicago last autumn. It would do no harm for the fly-half to be a potent attacking player in his own right with a box of tricks to call upon. If he was relatively

unknown — to the Kiwis, at least — that would be a bonus. There is something about Sam Davies that reminds me of the young Jonathan Davies 30 years ago before he crossed codes, which is no bad recommendation. I first clocked Sam at the Junior World Cup in 2013 when he was the star man in a particularly dangerous and attack-minded Welsh back division. Wales reached the final that year, when they narrowly missed out against an England team captained by Jack Clifford, with star displays from Anthony Watson, Henry Slade, Jack Nowell and Maro Itoje. Somebody put together a dazzling montage of Wales’s best moments from the tournament on YouTube and Davies featured in most of them. He also took the IRB Player of the Tournament award, voted for by all the coaches. He’s an outsider for the trip to New Zealand, but regardless of any Lions considerations, I would start him against England simply because I believe a Wales back division launched by Davies offers Wales the best chance of winning. Wales must play at extreme pace and try to exploit England’s lack of speed in the back row where, with injuries and a general lack of natural opensides, Eddie Jones is being forced to try all sorts of combinations as he strives to make the best of the personnel available. Although an England-Wales match would be quite an occasion on which to make your first Test start, I would still argue that the pressure would be off Davies. England, on a run of 15 straight wins, have everything to lose and they will arrive in Cardiff off the back off a poor display despite beating France 19-16. Wales have a licence to play. It would be a famous triumph if they pulled it off and rocket them straight into contention for this year’s title. Equally, lose against the in-form side of world rugby and there would be few complaints. Much has been made of how the selection of two openside flankers, Justin Tipuric and Sam Warburton, marks a significant change in the Wales approach but I would argue that will only really occur when an attacking playmaker like Davies gets the nod at 10. Unlike some, I am not a critic of so-called ‘Warrenball’. A coach selects the strongest team and the combination most likely to win from the players he has available. Warren Gatland is a massively successful coach and, for the best part of 10 years while at the Wales helm, Jamie Roberts has been a giant in midfield, so it would be natural to build your back division around him. I am a big fan of Scarlets pair Jonathan Davies and Scott Williams, but how often have they been available in tandem to offer a viable plan B in midfield? Both have suffered big injuries and long periods on the sidelines. Now they are fit and in prime form, so the landscape has changed. Meanwhile, Biggar has proved himself to be a class goal-kicker with a big-match temperament, and after a few seasons maturing and learning the ropes at senior level, Sam Davies is probably ready to make the next step. Only now, with Sam’s emergence and the options at centre, are all the pieces in place for Rob Howley — who looked relaxed and in control in Rome — to make significant changes to Wales’s overall approach, or at least for specific games.