Wales haven’t given up on Davies, insists Pivac after summer squad omission

JONATHAN Davies has been told he remains in Wales’s plans despite being left out of the squad for the summer tour of South Africa.

The Scarlets centre was one of the big-name omissions when Wayne Pivac named his 33-man squad last week.

Davies, who has 96 caps to his name, captained Wales during the autumn and had looked in decent form for the Scarlets of late. But he has been overlooked for the threeTest series with the world champion Springboks, with head coach Pivac opting for the centre quartet of George North, Nick Tompkins, Owen Watkin and Johnny Williams.

North is included after missing most of last season as he recovered from a serious knee injury.

Pivac insists Davies still has an international future, something the Bancyfelin product will be pleased to hear as Wales get ready to embark on a hectic schedule that culminates in next year’s World Cup in France.

“I’ve had a good chat with Jonathan,” said Pivac. “He was unavailable through injury when we first came in after the last World Cup. He’s had some big injuries in his career and he’s come back each time, worked very hard to get back into the squad.

“We had a chat around him having a big off-season, with next season a huge one for everybody.

“We wanted to bring George back in. We explained that Nick Tompkins is playing well and Owen Watkin did a very good job in the Six Nations, particularly defensively.

“So it was really an opportunity to have a look at Johnny Williams, who is back from injury.

“We know pretty much everything we need to know about Jonathan. It’s a case of him getting himself ready to go for a big start to next season to push for the autumn and beyond.

“We certainly haven’t written him off and that’s what I’ve told him. He knows that form will be really important at the start of next season leading into those first internationals.”

Scarlets players named in the squad are Wyn Jones, Ryan Elias, Gareth Davies, Kieran Hardy, Rhys Patchell and Johnny Williams.

Liam Williams, who is joining Cardiff this summer, is also named.