Howley on how Scarlets fever can be key and why Parkes got nod over Owen
Wales attack coach Rob Howley has six Scarlets in his back-line for Saturday’s Six Nations clash with Scotland in Cardiff.
So how will he make use of them and what’s he expecting from the likes of Rhys Patchell, Josh Adams and Hadleigh Parkes, who are all making their Championship debuts?
Rugby correspondent SIMON THOMAS was on hand as Howley outlined the key challenges that lie ahead for Wales in the tournament opener...
Q: How are you going to take advantage of having six of your starting back-line from the same side, the Scarlets? A: It reminds me of 2008 when we went up to Twickenham with 13 Ospreys that day. Having the number of Scarlets we have, and a 9-10-12-13 axis, we will benefit, but it’s a different game as well
You speak to many players and there is a huge step up from regional rugby with the nuances and intuitive play, but having those combinations certainly helps under pressure. We are hoping that counts for us on Saturday.
Q: How much can you use from the Scarlets playbook? A: Our playbook is from the autumn.
We changed things up and we work with players. It’s continually evolving and changing because there is so much analysis from the opposition.
The regional game is important and the self-belief and confidence that the players get from winning is a huge fillip. There is a strut about those players, particularly the Scarlet boys, and I am sure you will see that on the weekend.
Q: The one non-Scarlet in the back-line is a former Scarlet in Josh Adams, who makes his Test debut on the wing. What do you see as his strengths? A: I watched him prior to the Lions, watching Anthony Watson and Jonathan Joseph, back in May.
He has got pace, he is a very good footballer and he makes the right decisions at the right time.
I had a conversation with the Worcester coach Sam Vesty last week and we just want Josh to go out there and enjoy international rugby. We don’t want him to think too much.
The one thing about him he’s a try scorer. He has done that at Premiership level against good teams and if he can replicate those performances at the next step up then I am sure he will enjoy the day.
Q: What’s your view of the Scottish selection? Is it what you expected? A: When you look at the back-line, the combination at 9 and 10 is what we expected.
Obviously they are missing Alex Dunbar in the centre through injury. There is a new 13 in Chris Harris and a 12 starting there for the first time in international rugby in Huw Jones.
But the game of rugby starts up front, from a scrum and lineout perspective. And, looking at the experience we had up in Murrayfield last year, the contact area is going to be huge and that’s something we’ve talked about for the last 10 days. It will be key on the weekend.
But the back row is only as good as the front five in front of it, so that’s the challenge on Saturday and it’s something we are really looking forward to.
Q: Do you think the Scots will come to Cardiff with more confidence given they beat Wales last year and their performances in the autumn? A: Yeah, absolutely. Under Gregor Townsend, they are playing great rugby and did particularly well in the autumn. They beat us last year, so they are favourites coming to Cardiff. We will look forward to that.
They are buoyed with the way they play and it’s going to be a great game.
Q: George North is playing for Northampton this weekend. Warren Gatland has said he hopes he might play 60 minutes or so, but Alan Gaffney at Saints says he has to be ready to play 80 if necessary. Is that a concern to you? A: It’s not a concern. It’s about player welfare. When you pick players for international rugby you are very mindful that for self-belief and confidence players need game time under their belt.
Warren has said that from a player welfare perspective we would like George to have game time and I think Northampton would probably want him to have game time before stepping up to the level that he is exposed to in international rugby.
It’s having a common sense approach and making sure players have that game time before playing international rugby.
Q: Against Australia and New Zealand in the autumn, you went for a second playmaker at 12 in Owen Williams. Have you now moved away from that game-plan? A: We played the same against South Africa with Hadleigh Parkes and Scott Williams in the centre. There was no move away in the last game.
When you watch Hadleigh and Scott for the Scarlets, they are both able to play as a second receiver and we are comfortable with either of them stepping in and we saw that against the Springboks.
Q: But is Parkes a slightly different kind of 12 in that he can take the ball up a bit more if required?
A: It’s all about balance, isn’t it? It’s kick-pass run. With Hadleigh, he does the right thing at the right time, as he showed against South Africa.
I spoke to Owen Williams and he’s disappointed at being left out. He went back to Gloucester last week and the amount of time you are able to spend in camp does have an effect on decisions. Q: It’s Rhys Patchell’s first Six Nations start at fly-half. What are you looking
for from him? A: We want Rhys on the ball as often as possible. He has skills in the back field as a primary decision maker, he is able to kick, pass and run. It’s about controlling the game on the weekend and that’s the biggest challenge.
We are looking for him to play the game on his terms and make the right decisions at first receiver.
I am sure the experience he has inside and outside of him in combinations will make it a little easier, knowing those voices and trusting those calls having played so often with each other. That can only be a good thing.
Q: How do you make sure Hamish Watson doesn’t cause as much havoc as he did last year at Murrayfield? A: Win the collisions in attack and defence basically.
It’s about making sure our speed of ball is not affected and the referee has a huge influence on that in terms of the contact area, making sure the tackler rolls away and that we win the collisions and get speed of ball.
The quicker the speed of ball, the less influence the opposition back row have. We need to make sure we have the right numbers at the breakdown and that we are technically right there.
It’s probably no different from what Gregor Townsend is saying for Scotland.
That’s what they want. Every time we play Scotland, it seems to be quite a high scoring game.
We were disappointed last year. We probably played well for about 65 minutes and the game has then gone away from us.
It’s important we start well and the contact area is key, along with the set piece.
Q: Are you happy that Ross Moriarty is going to be fully fit to make the impact you want given his limited game time?
A: He is a fantastic No 8 and is quite vocal in training. He runs very good lines and is a very good defensive operator.
The challenge we have is picking the right back row, because we have so many sevens in our cupboard.
Ross is a quality No 8 and it’s good to see him on the park because he has been away for a long time.