PITCH PROVES PROBLEM, DECLARES COACH
Alack of training time has counted against Louis ReesZammit in his bid to break into the Wales team this weekend.
The teenage sensation has scored 10 tries in 12 matches for Gloucester this season, earning him a place in the Wales squad for the Championship.
But he has missed out on the matchday 23 for the Italy clash having not trained as much as his rivals for the wing position.
He played for Gloucester in Toulouse on Sunday, January 19, meaning himself and Owen Williams arrived in camp late on the first day of training.
To compound that, he also checked in at the team’s Vale Resort training base with an injury, so was unable to get out on the training paddock straight away.
Being based in England, he then had to return to his parent club last Wednesday, so didn’t train with Wales at the end of last week. Meanwhile, the other wingers in the squad have been in camp full time.
“When we selected Louis, we looked at the Italian game as being a
WAYNE Pivac has identified the squad’s training surface as a potential reason for injuries the team have suffered.
The Welsh camp have been hit by two hamstring injuries since meeting up on January 20.
Owen Lane has undergone surgery in London and is expected to be out for months, while Josh Navidi has also been ruled out of the bulk of the Six Nations with a hamstring problem.
When asked if this was simply bad luck or if the management needed to evaluate the way they’ve been training, Pivac said: “We’re talking about the [training] ground, it’s very soft and very heavy under foot.
“We’ve had a lot of rain, so the surface is something that has been discussed. There’s not a lot we can do about it at this stage, the weather is the weather.” possibility,” said Pivac.
“But unfortunately he came into camp with an injury and couldn’t train much last week, I think he had the one run. Then, of course, being an exile, he had to go home.
He added: “Josh had an injury to his hamstring, early on in training, I think it was Monday. We’ve had a scan and there is some damage there. He’ll be out for a few weeks. I couldn’t put a number on exactly how many weeks.
“The medical team will be doing the best they can to get him back as quickly as possible.”
To combat the issues, Wales have left their outdoor training pitch at their Vale Resort base to train at their state-of-the-art indoor Centre of Excellence and headed to the Principality Stadium in Cardiff to take advantage of the pristine surface under the roof.
“From our point of view, it’s been about just getting a surface that we can do some scrummaging on.
“We haven’t completed a scrum down on our training pitch all week,” Pivac added.
“He hasn’t had the opportunities that Johnny McNicholl and Josh Adams have. It’s counted against him, the injury and the unavailability.
“It’s just been too short a time for him. But, certainly, on Tuesday when he trained he looked good.
“He’s definitely got a big bright future in the game.”
Rees-Zammit has just signed a lengthy deal with the Cherry and Whites, with the club having identified his long-term prospects.
Meanwhile, Saracens centre Nick Tompkins looks set to make his Wales debut after being named on the replacements’ bench for tomorrow’s Guinness Six Nations opener against Italy.
Tompkins, who qualifies for Wales through his Wrexham-born grandmother, will provide midfield cover for Hadleigh Parkes and George North, with North moving from the wing to replace injured centre Jonathan Davies and looks likely he’ll feature at some stage during proceedings tomorrow.
Pivac’s starting line-up includes a Test debut for Scarlets wing McNicholl, while fit-again Bath number eight Taulupe Faletau is recalled.
It will be Faletau’s 73rd cap, but his first Wales appearance since March 2018.
Faletau has endured a prolonged injury-hit spell in his career, and he missed the World Cup earlier this term because of a collarbone issue.
“He brings a lot of experience and it’s been great having him around training,” said Pivac.
“Hopefully he’ll start for us the way he did with Bath. He’d been out for a while there and came back very strongly.”
Scrum-half Rhys Webb is included among the replacements, with Webb rejoining the Ospreys next term and now being available for Wales selection again following a stint with French club Toulon.
He last played for Wales just over two years ago.
Josh Navidi, Liam Williams, Owen Watkin, Gareth Davies and Elliot Dee were unavailable as they continue recoveries from injuries.
Wales team:
L Halfpenny (Scarlets); J McNicholl (Scarlets), G North (Ospreys), H Parkes (Scarlets), J Adams (Cardiff Blues); D Biggar (Northampton), T Williams (Cardiff Blues); W Jones (Scarlets), K Owens (Scarlets), D Lewis (Cardiff Blues), J Ball (Scarlets), A W Jones (Ospreys, capt), A Wainwright (Dragons), J Tipuric (Ospreys), T Faletau (Bath). Replacements: R Elias (Scarlets), R Evans (Scarlets), L Brown (Dragons), C Hill (Dragons), R Moriarty (Dragons), R Webb (Toulon), J Evans (Cardiff Blues), N Tompkins (Saracens).