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3 hot takes as Warren Gatland names Wales team to visit Scotland,
By Liam Heagney
Desperate times call for desperate measures and the damaging downturn in Wales has now resulted in Warren Gatland taking a sledgehammer to the pack that got blown away last weekend by Ireland in the Guinness Six Nations round one. Something had to dramatically give and it has, the coach axing three of his 2021 British and Irish Lions forwards. Here are three RugbyPass hot takes on the selection announced on Thursday:
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Culling the Lions
Gatland is a creature of habit in generally liking his old reliables and keeping selection consistent without there ever being a frequent nod to the future, but the risible nature of last weekend’s surrender by Wales meant he had to now act fast to stop the rot. Thing is, the coach should have done this with his opening-round team and he didn’t cover himself in glory by not taking that risk.
It was last month when Gatland had a pop at Wayne Pivac for not better energising Wales by bringing through more young players, but he then turned around and selected his own Dad’s Army team of 30-something veterans to host the Irish. That left a side already low on confidence vulnerable to getting blown away by a fast start and so it proved.
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In a climate where measures have been taken to speed up the game, Gatland was caught napping by his conservative approach to selection and the need for teams to have way more energy in this year’s championship is now reflected in his revamped pack, especially at back row.
A debate leading into last weekend was that you could perhaps pick either Jac Morgan or Tommy Reffell but not both even though both players have been in excellent club form. That premise has now been scratched, with Morgan chosen at No8 and Reffell at openside along with Christ Tshiunza at blindside.
It’s a massive change in tack, axing Justin Tipuric and benching Taulupe Faletau. That experienced pair have a whopping 186 Wales caps between them but Gatland is now coming to the table in Scotland with an entire back row made up of just 15 caps – Morgan with seven, Reffell on five and Tshiunza three. Their youthful promise is something for depressed Welsh fans to get excited about.
The AWJ optics
Welsh rugby and negative headlines have been quite a tag team in recent times and the last thing Gatland would have needed heading to Scotland was another deluge by naming Alun Wyn Jones in his matchday 23. The coach ruled the veteran out of round two last Saturday when sifting through the debris of the loss to Ireland, explaining he had failed his HIA after going off against Ireland.
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This plot about AWJ thickened on Tuesday, though, when it was reported that the veteran lock was now suddenly available for selection. The explanation given was that Jones’ HIA1 produced an abnormal result and the match day doctor ruled he couldn’t rejoin the action.
However, Jones’ subsequent – and more detailed – HIA2 and HIA3 assessments were normal and he did not show any signs or symptoms of concussion, with a neck injury instead diagnosed but not one bad enough to sideline him for this weekend.
Although now green-lighted by the medics to be included for Edinburgh, the naming of Jones would have been contentious in a climate where concussion and bangs to the head are a burning hot topic. In the end, Gatland opted to give youth its fling in the second row and it’s the right call in terms of optics.
Wales would have had much to lose by way of credibility had Jones played in Scotland and suffered another head knock whereas now there is a nothing-to-lose excitement about the two-cap Dafydd Jenkins pairing up with Adam Beard at second row and having the uncapped Rhys Davies waiting for his chance from the bench.
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As regards the changed props, Tomas Francis was unavailable through injury while the progress of Wyn Jones at training reportedly tipped the selection battle at No1 his way on this occasion. Jones is a front-rower with quite an engine on him, so he can only add to the collective energy in the pack getting around the park.
Backing the backs
Gatland tried to accentuate the positive in the wake of the 10-34 loss to Ireland, emphasising missed chances and how the second half was a seven-all draw compared to what unfolded earlier. That is why he has opted to stick with the exact same starting backline in the hope that they can deliver an end product at Murrayfield compared to the Principality.
It’s an understandable call. Gatland already has youth in there in the guise of Joe Hawkins and Rio Dyer and they did look like a backline with tries in it versus the Irish only for the scoreboard pressure to tell.
“We tried to keep some continuity with the same backline; we thought we created opportunity last week, but we weren’t clinical enough in finishing off some of those chances so that has been the message for this week,” ruminated Gatland. That faith now needs to be repaid, though, or else he will be visiting the drawing board to alter the backs for round three against England.
Wales (vs Scotland, Saturday – 4:45pm): L Williams (Cardiff); J Adams (Cardiff), G North (Ospreys), J Hawkins (Ospreys), R Dyer (Dragons); D Biggar (Toulon), T Williams (Cardiff); W Jones (Scarlets), K Owens (Scarlets, capt), D Lewis (Cardiff), D Jenkins (Exeter), A Beard (Ospreys), C Tshiunza (Exeter), T Reffell (Leicester), J Morgan (Ospreys). Reps: S Baldwin (Ospreys), R Carre (Cardiff), L Brown (Dragons), R Davies (Ospreys), T Faletau (Cardiff), R Webb (Ospreys), R Patchell (Scarlets), A Cuthbert (Ospreys).
