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New Wales call-up Halaholo could be out of the game for quite some time

(Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Cardiff Blues have confirmed that Willis Halaholo suffered an acute anterior cruciate ligament injury during last Saturday’s European Challenge Cup clash with Leicester Tigers.

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The centre will undergo surgery next week and will then begin his rehabilitation process with the region’s medical team.

The injury precluded Halaholo from linking up with the Wales squad on Monday for next Saturday clash with the Barbarians in Cardiff. Scott Williams has been called into the squad as his replacement.

New Wales coach Wayne Pivac had named a 35-man squad last week to prepare for his first fixture in charge at the Principality Stadium.

The game isn’t a capped international but Halaholo was one of five players hoping to pull on the red national jersey for the first time, Taine Basham, Shane Lewis-Hughes, Ashton Hewitt and Johnny McNicholl being the other four. 

(Continue reading below…)

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Halaholo and McNicholl were not the first players to qualify for a country on residency, but their inclusion in Pivac’s Wales squad didn’t please everyone. 

The Wales squad already has Hadleigh Parkes in it, a player born and raised in New Zealand who moved to Wales in 2014, but the latest inclusion of Blues’ Halaholo and Scarlets’ McNicholl, both of whom are also from New Zealand, proven quite contentious. 

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Former Wales and British and Irish Lions international Gavin Henson was one player to speak up about this selection last week, describing it as “so wrong” to his followers on Twitter. 

“Parent or grandparent is totally fine. Residency should only count if they’ve spent a certain amount of time in that country in their childhood.”

WATCH: England attack coach Scott Wisemantel departs as Wallabies job broadens his horizon

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fl 1 hour ago
Why Les Kiss and Stuart Lancaster can lead Australia to glory

“A succession of recent ex-players going straight back into the game as coaches in their early 40’s would prob be enough to kill it stone-dead. Innovation would die a death.”

Would it? I do think one of the major differences between rugby and most other sports - which we’ve been overlooking - is the degree to which players are expected to lead team meetings & analysis sessions and the like. Someone like Owen Farrell has basically been an assistant coach already for ten years - and he’s been so under a variety of different head coaches with different expectations and playing styles.


“The most interesting ppl I have met in the game have all coached well into their sixties and they value the time and opportunity they have had to reflect and therefore innovate in the game. That’s based on their ability to compare and contrast between multiple eras.”

I don’t doubt that that’s true. But having interesting insights doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be the best able to inspire a team, or the best at managing the backroom staff.


“Wayne Smith winning the WWC in his mid sixties three years ago prob means nothing to you but it meant a lot to him. It took him back to the roots of is own coaching journey.”

I don’t doubt that! But I don’t think coaches should be hired on the basis that it means a lot to them.


“The likes of Carlo Ancelotti and Wayne Bennett and Andy Reid all have a tale to tell. You should open your ears and listen to it!”

I agree! Never have I ever suggested otherwise!

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