Wales explain why they brought forward their XV announcement by two days and highlight what they want from the recalled Gareth Davies
Grand Slam-chasing Wales have outlined why they opted to announce their team to play Italy on Saturday in the Guinness Six Nations two days earlier than planned. Wayne Pivac wasn’t due to reveal his Wales XV for Rome until Thursday but he instead chose to go public much earlier.
“We have had a good nine days since the last match and we knew our side once the injuries were all settled,” said Pivac as he seeks to build on an excellent February for Wales which featured Triple Crown-clinching wins over Ireland, Scotland and England. “Internally what we wanted to do was name the team nice and early so we have a good build-up and that is certainly what we have done and it’s about what serves us best for this particular week.”
This best interest included limiting the changes to the starting XV to just two, Gareth Davies returning at scrum-half in place of the injured Kieran Hardy and Cory Hill getting promoted from the bench due to a need to rest the banged up Adam Beard.
Quizzed on Tuesday about this pair of alterations, Wales boss Pivac said: “Tomos (Williams) wasn’t quite ready. Gareth has been the top two since Tomas has been out injured so we have just stuck with Gareth. “He has got a couple of things in the game he has been working on. Speed to the breakdown is one we want with all our nines.
“We want to move the ball and get it away from the breakdown area quickly so that is what he will be focusing on, and Lloyd (Williams), who has been training very well, comes in on the bench.
Wayne Pivac has named his team for Wales' Italian job#SixNations #ITAvWALhttps://t.co/ocsqn10dmN
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 9, 2021
“Adam has had a pretty big workload in camp and he was a bit banged up to be honest so we are giving him a break this week. He will come to Rome with us but won’t be in the 23,” continued Pivac, adding what he now expects to see from Hill, a try-scorer off the bench the last day versus England.
“A lot of energy, a lot of enthusiasm. He has trained very, very well and that is why he earned his spot on the bench (against the English). He made an impact when he came on, I’m sure everyone saw that, so we’re happy he will come in and have a start. We’ll freshen up Adam and Alun Wyn just rocks on as usual.
“Jake Ball has also been training very well throughout the whole campaign. We feel he deserves an opportunity in this game as well and it’s nice to see him get his 50th Test match under his belt.”
Declaring out-half Dan Biggar fit for the Italian job despite limping off early in the second half versus the English, Pivac explained why he resisted making more than two Wales changes even though he could have understandably rested some players ahead of the likely March 20 Grand Slam decider versus France.
“For us, it is about the performance and we are not overly happy with the full 80 minutes yet. We have done some things very well in games and most people would agree we are improving in many areas, but we still have got a long way to go and this team is building a bit of momentum. We want to stay with that momentum and reward the players who have done the bulk of it so far. Certainly, it is another opportunity to build combinations and get our game ready for the last match of the competition.
“We have talked around how we want to play the game and there are two very important games to go and it’s about getting results, so don’t expect us to be throwing it around willy nilly. We have got a job to do and we have got to get on top of this Italian side before you see any of that razzle-dazzle. It’s important that we continue to use the 80 minutes and develop our game the way we want to against the opposition.
“You are seeing a more expansive game from Italy so they pose a few different problems from a defensive point of view than maybe they did a year or two ago. We’ll go out there and make sure our defence is in order. That has been improving and we want to maintain that. We’ll put that challenge in front of the boys but also in attack we want to be very decisive and take our opportunities when they present themselves.”
Pivac insisted there would be no room for complacency. “That message was delivered by the players themselves and we just echoed that. That started in the changing room after the game against England. What the England game has done is put us in a great position but like I said after the game we don’t want to undo the good work that has been done in the first three matches.
“We are taking this game as an important stepping stone in the building of our game going forward and it’s a great opportunity for us to go out there and continue to work hard.”
ICYMI: Freshly minted Azzurri @MontyIoane talked this week to @heagneyl ??? about Wallaby Uncle Digby, his ink, why he converted to Islam and how an obsession with rugby led to @Federugby #SixNations #ITAvFRAhttps://t.co/9VkM1JDEFV
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 6, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
As you say in your article Brett, the point was Hamish and his vanity - plain and simple. The crazy bit is that sua’ali’i has to be probably twice the player of mark N, no easy feat, just for RA to get their money's worth!?! And as you say, tahs aren't short of wingers, props on the other hand id like to see $1.6m spent on. I still shake my head at the absolute carry on in the media and comments section around the boon of getting sua’ali’i and the revenue it'd generate. It was all such hogwash imo and short sighted, real sugar hit stuff. And wasnt Waugh (and others) on the board at the time this money was spent? You say silver bullet, I'd say sugar hit but without the flavour.
1 Go to commentsNZR should play hard all a bit with some of these players and make them sign up to the next world cup. If they won’t, offer it to someone who will. Because what happens is the NH (especially France) swoop on a bunch of nz players coming off contract, weakening their depth, and nz scrambles less than 2 years out trying to get replacements up to speed.
1 Go to commentsNo thanks. Savea almost always leaves easy points out there and goes for the corner, no matter how many times it’s not working. He claimed he took “the learnings” from this when he kept making the same mistake against the Boks a few years ago. Then went out the very next week and did the same thing and SA snatched victory because of it. Years later he still does it, right up to and including the world cup final. Great player, not so great rugby nous.
10 Go to commentsIt certainly wasn't a rhetorical masterpiece coming from big E …. (just as a side remark: Eben is the better player, Siya by far the better talker - maybe that's why they don't seem to like each other very much) …. but could we please move on?
46 Go to commentsMan who wasn't there and hasn't held a conversation with those who were present weighs in on dead rubber debate and is presented as representative of the Irish Rugby Union’s spokesperson on subject he has no apparent knowledge of whatsoever.
46 Go to commentsanybody who bends at the waist when they tackle
3 Go to commentsThe evidence is not strong that this is necessary. Mounga choked on clutch kicks in the WRC final and lost the match by not performing his core goal kicking role to the level required. He also choked in the Semi final against England and was targeted as the weak point in the defence allowing them to score. Not a test great frankly. Why bend the rules for a player that is competent but not brilliant at test level?
11 Go to commentsDear Robbie, Please return to the Crusaders next season. Sincerely, Scott
1 Go to commentsDid the big E call the Irish the ‘White Can’ts’? That would’ve been good
46 Go to commentsDalton Papalii will be lucky to be selected on the Matchday 23. Ardie Savea, Ethan Blackadder, Luke Jacobson, and Peter Lauki are all as good or better openside flankers
10 Go to commentsScott Barrett is a lock and they have a much longer shelf life than a loose forward. Far more likely that Barrett will still demand a starting position based on performance at age 33 at RWC 2027 than Savea, whose explosive athleticism will have declined and he will in all likelihood have been surpassed by Hoskins Sotutu, Wallace Siti, Peter Lauki and Brayden Iose.
10 Go to commentsExtremely frustrating to get yet more speculation over whether or not Eben actually counted 12 players or not, but honestly big respect to McCloskey for keeping it classy and not pointing out Etzebeth’s hypocrisy. The Irish are a popular team outside of Ireland because they do their talking on the pitch, and its honestly a PR masterclass that they’re keeping it that way following Etzebeth’s provocation.
46 Go to commentsGood option for the lineout lost there.
1 Go to commentsIt’s not like Saffas have a long history of spouting absolute shite at any & every occasion. Oh wait… The dangers of an inferior third world education strike again.
46 Go to commentsI’m so glad we’re revisiting this. Really needs to be dissected further. I’m also so glad that a guy in the stands who wasn’t anywhere near the field when any of it would have been said (and even confirms this) has taken the lead and commented as Ireland. Definitely cleared it all up. This article would be hilarious if it wasn’t so misleading.
46 Go to commentsits such a shame he hasn’t achieved more success at club level. He’s really not been a potent finisher for a while now, but he’s still excellent in the kick chase. That’s the kind of skillset that generally only gets appreciated when you’re playing in premiership and european finals. I’m not sure whether the challenge cup counts given the quality of the competition seems lower than in previous years, but his duel with Mapimpi should be enthralling.
1 Go to commentsThe point is the irish players were arrogant,call it like you want sugar coat it aswell but they were you could see it in their way they handeled themselfs on the field when they got something right so dont tell me it was not arrogance it was,you can fool other people but not me,and to say to one of our players see you in the final put a nail in the coffin for this bullsh@t,just be grown men and accept it that you were arrogant,you could if seen it from a mile away, and then you lost to the allblacks what a cocky move that didnt work out for you ,Eben was right when he said u were arrogant,the point is you will deny it because you lost it all just grow some balls and move on we had won you lost accept it.
46 Go to comments“summer tour of North and South America” so its a summer tour of america?
1 Go to commentsEverybody is giving the Irish players the benefit of the doubt in ‘what they meant’, but none of these pundits or commentators offer the same courtesy to Eben. I don’t think Eben went, 1, 2, 3… etc. What might have happened is he didn’t count and when the 3rd or 5th guy said he went, hang on why are so many of them saying this… and then started to concentrate on it more and more as players continue to say it. So no, he didn’t count it, he realised many Irish players said it and made an assumption based on that… The Irish team was VERY confident at the time and I do believe they believed they were going to win the World Cup, which borders a bit on the arrogant side…
46 Go to commentsI can see how some of the Irish players would have said”see you in the final” as a gentle comment after a victory. It’s open to interpretation but it’s clumsy language. I don’t know the fella but I assure you Eben doesn’t have an axe to grind with Ireland. He has never been the media seeking pro. Oh and BTW it is I’ll be our winter in July so won’t be wet.
46 Go to comments