Navidi winning his fitness battle to face England
JOSH Navidi appears on course to give Wales a huge boost and be available for Saturday’s Autumn Nations Cup clash against England, writes Andrew Baldock.
The influential Cardiff Blues backrow forward has not played Test rugby so far this autumn.
He missed Wales’ friendly against France and a delayed Six Nations appointment with Scotland last month - plus Nations Cup games against Ireland and Georgia - after he suffered concussion in late September. But Navidi and back-row colleague Taulupe Faletau, who had a minor knee issue, are back in full training ahead of the Parc y Scarlets encounter.
Wales, meanwhile, are continuing to assess flanker Justin Tipuric, who suffered a head knock during the Georgia game three days ago.
Wales assistant coach Neil Jenkins said: “If Navs is right, he’s a fantastic player.
“For me, he is a world-class player, the type of guy with minimal rugby that can step up and play Test match football. He is one we are keeping a close eye on, and we will have a look on Thursday.
“Tips is going through his protocols, as you normally would after a head injury. It was a pretty heavy knock on Saturday, but he seems pretty good, and we will see how he goes for the rest of the week.”
Wales head coach Wayne Pivac is due to name his starting line-up today, but star centre Jonathan Davies is expected to miss out because of a knee problem.
Pivac’s men face a Herculean task, meeting England after losing six of their last seven games.
In contrast, dominant England have reeled off six successive victories, including a Six Nations titleclinching win against Italy, before dismantling Ireland last weekend.
Such disparity in form and results led to former Wales captain Gwyn Jones claiming this week that Wales are currently “miles behind” England.
“Gwyn is entitled to his opinion, and I’ve no problem with that. You would say that, the way things have gone so far,” Jenkins added.
“But, look, we are a certain type in Wales and we would like the think we’re going to back ourselves on Saturday and we fancy our chances.
“We are up against the secondbest side in the world at this moment in time, and this is a big challenge for us. We wouldn’t see it as a shock in here (if Wales won), but I am sure the rest of the world would.
“Wales-England games throw up a lot of different things - they have done in the past - so I would like to think we will be more than ready on Saturday to match, and hopefully better, England in a lot of areas.”