Wayne will need all his big guns to battle Boks
It is going to be a big week for Wayne Pivac as he emerges from the shadows to announce his squad to take on the world champion Springboks in a three-Test series this summer. It will only be the third time in history that Wales has undertaken a threematch series in one country on tour and it couldn’t be more daunting.
Add in the fact that Wales have faced the Springboks 10 times in South Africa and are yet to register a win and the size of the task ahead of Pivac and his players in July is a massive one.
The first consideration is who does he take? Will he leave some of his crown jewels at home to give them a rest before they embark on the long haul to next year’s World Cup in France? Ken Owens, Ross Moriarty and Justin Tipuric are non-starters due to injury, but what does he do with the recently returned George North, Englishbased Dan Biggar and Taulupe Faletau and, of course, Alun Wyn Jones?
If he takes the decision to leave his big guns at home, what impact will that have on the ability of the rest of the best players at his disposal to tackle the world champions? The doom merchants are predicting a torrid time for Wales in all three matches, but surely Pivac has created enough depth to ensure his side will be competitive.
If not, will he run the risk of causing psychological damage. Let’s face it, playing three successive weekends against the Boks has to be among the hardest tasks in the world game – just ask the British & Irish Lions!
After a poor Six Nations, and a disastrous end against Italy, I’d love to see him go strong and take the best possible squad. Even if he does not play his senior stars as much as he might have to in the future, their presence will make such a huge difference in training and in restoring morale.
We all remember what happened when Wales went to South Africa in 1998 and lost 96-13 with a make-shift management and squad!
To those Welsh fans fearing the worst I’d just remind them that Wales lost by only a point in their last international in South Africa, 31-30 in Nelspruit in 2014. The Boks have won the last two games, 23-18 in Cardiff last year and 19-16 in the World Cup semi-final in Japan in 2019, but Wales won five of the six games before that, including four in a row. Credit where credit is due!
At full strength, Pivac will have a side with enough experience and quality to pose plenty of problems to the South Africans. It would also give him a much stronger bench. Without a complete package, an already tough task will simply get even harder.
The next question is who might
“My big concern is there are some lingering mental scars from the regions’ poor run of results”
he add to the squad to test their credentials ahead of next year’s World Cup?
Scarlets wing Ryan Conbeer is one of the form three-quarters of late; lock Dafydd Jenkins, right, has picked up rave reviews at Exeter; Leicester flanker Tommy Reffell has been on fire for the Tigers all season; and who wouldn’t want the sensational England U20 full-back from London Irish, the Welsh-qualified Henry Arundell, in their squad.
Arundell might be a very long shot, especially as the Scots are also chasing him, but he showed how deadly he can be with his length of the field try for the Exiles against Toulon in the European Challenge Cup. I was exhausted just watching it!
Just as Ireland have done with the likes of Jamison Gibson-Park, James Lowe, Bundee Aki, CJ Stander, Jared Payne, Tom Court and many other southern hemisphere imports in recent years, Wales need to be keeping an eye on talent they can bring into Wales to supplement the home grown players who have delivered so many great moments since 2005.
We got Ross Moriarty back after his brief sojourn with England U20, we benefitted from the grandparent ruling with Nick Tompkins and Will Rowlands, so if
Eddie Jones doesn’t want Arundell, then Wales would love to see more of what he’s got to offer.
The tour will allow the battle for the long-term job as Wales hooker to continue between Ryan Elias, Dewi Lake and Bradley Roberts and it will be interesting to see if Exeter’s Christ Tshuinza is fit to resume after an operation on his hamstring. The fight for the No.7 jersey between young guns Taine Basham and Jac Morgan will intensify, plus there is Josh Navidi back to full fitness along with his Cardiff colleagues Ellis Jenkins and James Botham. It might be asking a bit much of Exeter student Dafydd Jenkins to step into the test arena to take on the likes of Eben Etzebeth, given his lack of experience. Being part of the tour party would be good for him, however, especially if he travels with his university pal Tshuinza.
My big concern is there may be some lingering mental scars from the poor run of results all four regions have experienced in South Africa in the URC this season. We have the Bulls, Lions and Stormers playing three of the regions in Wales this week. What a shot in the arm it would be to the regional game, and the Wales tour, if we could make it a hat-trick of wins.
The fans need a winning sign-off to what has been a pretty awful season for the Dragons, Cardiff, Ospreys and Scarlets. It is a chance to go out with a bang and to give the South Africans something to chew on before July.