FRONT ROW LEGEND

THERE is one thing Dillon Lewis needs to do to take a great leap forward as a prop.

Unfortunately, for him, there is no guarantee that it will happen any time soon.

Lewis needs to secure the No.3 jersey at Cardiff Blues and bank all the experience that would bring.

But Dmitri Arhip is standing in his way and so it is far from certain Lewis will become a regional first choice in the short term.

Not that long ago, Arhip was himself in apprentice mode. But the Ospreys gave him matches and trusted him to anchor their scrum and he rewarded them with some strong displays.

The key was that he had those opportunities.

That is what would happen Lewis in an ideal world.

Warren Gatland has clearly seen something in him and kept him on the field for 79 minutes against Scotland.

Arguably, he missed a chance to have a closer look at Leon Brown, but I guess Lewis banked credit on the summer tour and Gatland wanted to see if he could put down a marker in a home Test.

I thought he did well enough, but he’s still a work in progress.

A prop can’t jump from A to Z in his development. He has to patiently move from A to B to C and so on, to picking up knowledge as he goes along.

And the best way to acquire that know-how is by playing.

I played in a different era but a young player still has to learn and my learning took place as a teenager playing against gnarled forwards who frequently put my head in places where I hadn’t realised it could go.

But I absorbed the lessons until I was able to contemplate Test rugby.

Today, there is emphasis on manufacturing players in gyms, but I still believe the best way to develop is through getting on the field against someone who wants to better you.

Did I learn anything about Lewis and Nicky Smith in the game with the Scots which I didn’t know already? No, I didn’t. But I could say that for Wales generally.

They were dogged and defended strongly, qualities that have always been there under Warren Gatland. There were a couple of nice tries from George North and Jonathan Davies, but we knew they were good players, anyway.

Are Wales going to win the World Cup relying so heavily on grit, graft and a never-say-die attitude? No. Those factors have to be part of the equation but there need to be other qualities as well.

I was disappointed more chances didn’t come the way of Luke Morgan.

He is a kid who has been doing exciting things at regional level and it would have been great to see what he could do with ball in hand. But a pass didn’t come his way for more than an hour.

Justin Tipuric had a strong game and is an outstanding player, but it would be good for him to get a few more opportunities in attack, too, because he has all the skills in that respect.

A solid win, then, but Australia are in town next weekend and Wales need to step up a gear.