Western Mail

Pivac faces a host of worries ahead of tour

-

WHEN it comes to beating the Springboks on South African soil this summer, Wales are certainly up against it, writes BEN JAMES.

Even with a full-strength squad, such is the mood in Welsh rugby at the minute, you’d imagine Wales will be flying out a priest to Pretoria along with the usual coaching ticket. It’s going to be a tough tour.

Some injury absentees will be felt harder than others by Wayne Pivac. While many aren’t totally ruled out at this stage there are a lot of worries with the squad expected to be announced next week.

Aaron Wainwright is one who is definitely missing. The Dragons’ back-row, who has establishe­d himself as a No.8 back-up to Taulupe Faletau under Pivac, will miss the tour after fracturing a heel against the Scarlets recently.

Justin Tipuric is another back-row who won’t feature. The openside hasn’t featured this season since falling foul of a shoulder issue in the Lions’ opening match against Japan last year.

Another Lion who has struggled this year has been Ken Owens. The hooker hasn’t been seen in a Welsh jersey since the 2021 Grand Slam decider in Paris, with a back injury ruling him out of the autumn and then denying him a Six Nations place.

Ryan Elias and Dewi Lake have stepped up to the plate. It seems likely they’ll have to continue carrying the load in South Africa. Elliot Dee, though, might not be there - with the Dragons hooker a doubt with a calf strain.

Elsewhere in the front-row, another Test Lion might be missing. Wyn Jones is on the road to recovery after an operation on his knee. On the other side of the pack, Leon Brown is a doubt, with the Dragons prop currently recovering from a shoulder nerve injury.

There’s other injury concerns at the Dragons - with Ross Moriarty also recovering from a nerve injury in his leg and Will Rowlands has a shoulder problem – while Christ Tshiunza has been out with a hamstring injury.

Moving into the backs, the news that Tomos Williams will be out for longer than six weeks with a hand injury - putting his touring place in serious doubt - would leave the scrum-half jersey once again shifting around.

His Arms Park team-mate Willis Halaholo is another who has seen injuries curb his chances of Test selection in recent years. and saw a hamstring injury end his season.

In the back-three, Josh Adams is currently out with a knee injury which should keep him out for up to six weeks - leaving things a little tight for the Cardiff wing. Johnny McNicholl is another who might miss out, with a knee injury of his own ending his campaign.

Away from the injuries, two backs we definitely won’t see this summer will be Jonah Holmes and Hallam Amos. The former is leaving the Dragons to join Ealing after turning down a reduced contract in Wales. As for Amos, he’s retiring this summer to pursue a career in medicine.

■ ARGENTINA internatio­nal Tomas Lezana has extended his stay in West Wales by signing a new Scarlets contract. The 28-year-old flanker, capped 40 times for his country, arrived in Llanelli after featuring for the Pumas in The Rugby Championsh­ip and has made nine appearance­s, scoring two tries.

■ FORMER Neath and Wales prop Glyn Shaw has passed away after a long illness aged 71. Shaw won 12 caps for his country in the 1970s, displacing Charlie Faulkner to break up the Pontypool front-row. He also captained Neath in 1977/78, before heading north to switch codes and join Widnes. In rugby league, he became an internatio­nal, representi­ng Wales and Great Britain.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom