Pair among five Welsh players who had to return to England despite concerns over social bubbles
WAYNE Pivac will have been watching from behind the sofa as five players from his Six Nations training squad featured in Round 7 of the Gallagher Premiership.
Aside from relief that none of his players suffered major injuries (or illness … yet), how will Pivac feel about his players’ performances?
Dan Biggar
The Northampton 10 will have been grateful for some game time ahead of the Six Nations having not run out since Boxing Day.
He played 80 minutes in a hard-fought win over Gloucester as his side came back from 19-11 down to win 26-31. Showed slick hands for Northampton’s first try and good decision making for the other three. His penalty kicks in the first half kept his side in the game.
That said, a misplaced up-and-under kick gave Ollie Thorley the space to set up a slicing Gloucester try under the posts in the second half and he also missed three out of four conversions.
Biggar’s untidy kicking game will have been noticed by Pivac and rival fly-halves Callum Sheedy and Jarrod Evans who have previously been critiqued for being lacking in this area.
| Goal kicking accuracy in 2021 | Average metres gained in 2021 | |
| 1. Sheedy | 89% (attempts 9, misses 1) | 13.8 (4 carries) |
| 2. Evans | 80% (attempts 10, misses 2) | 1.9 (12 carries) |
| 3. Biggar | 57% (attempts 7, misses 3) | 0.6 (5 carries) |
Callum Sheedy
He entered 56 minutes into a game that was decided in the first half, Bristol putting seven tries past a glum Bath side.
That said, he bossed the defence from fly-half when he did come on and looked dangerous with the ball in hand. Ended a frenetic period of pressure for Bath, tidying up a bobbling ripped turnover on his own try line before pinning Bath in their 22 with a measured kick for touch.
Sheedy’s international teammate, the young and dynamic Ioan Lloyd, shone at 10 for Bristol before being replaced, raising questions over Pivac’s decision to omit him from Wales’ training squad.
Taulupe Faletau
On the receiving end of Bath’s 48-3 defeat to Bristol. Forced on just 11 minutes in after a clash of heads injured both Bath locks.
Made 10 tackles, missed two. Went down for a few moments after receiving a knock in the 66th minute but shook it off and finished the game.
Lawrence Dallaglio said: “Having seen what Faletau has had to do tonight, will that change Wayne Pivac’s thinking about whether Faletau starts that game next week or more likely now comes off the bench? He’s had to put a real shift in defensively today.”
Tomas Francis
He was propelled into Exeter’s starting line-up with tight-head prop Harry Williams away in the England squad. They beat Worcester 17-21 in a game that was much harder than expected.
Faced significant pressure from opposite number Ethan Waller at scrum time and made little impact on or off the ball. Exeter conceded three penalties at the scrum before he was subbed off in the 53rd minute.
As the only No.3 in Wales’ squad with any reputation as a scrummager, Pivac will hope his performance improves in the coming tournament.
Will Rowlands
Played the full 80 minutes in Wasps’ crushing 17-49 defeat by Harlequins.
Like Faletau, was one of the defensive leaders, making 13 tackles, including a big hit on Alex Dombrandt in his own 22. Nonetheless, did miss a few tackles and had a lineout stolen.
With Alun Wyn Jones set to be fit for Wales’ opener against Ireland, it seems likely Pivac will not hand Rowlands his fourth test start in Cardiff.
Despite Pivac’s appeals to English clubs to allow his 36 players to remain in a Covid secure training bubble for the duration of the tournament, Welsh players based in England will still be required to return to their clubs during fallow weeks and when not selected for the matchday squad.
England face no such rules having reached an agreement with Premiership clubs to host a smaller 28-man training squad who will remain in a bubble throughout the tournament.
While this will inevitably increase the risk of Covid transmission in the Welsh squad, time will tell whether Pivac will benefit from having a larger pool of players to select his team from.
- Wales v Ireland kicks off at 3pm on Sunday 7 February in the Principality Stadium, Cardiff.
