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The George North/Josh Adams experiment that will pique Wayne Pivac's interest this weekend

George North walks with Wales team-mate Josh Adams during pre-World Cup training (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Given the injury crisis that Wales are currently enduring with their centres ahead of the Six Nations, Cardiff Blues’ Josh Adams and the Ospreys’ George North are both set to start this weekend at outside centre for their clubs in Europe. 

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Wayne Pivac currently has a dearth of options in the No13 Test team shirt, with first-choice Jonathan Davies ruled out as is Willis Halaholo. Owen Watkin is set to miss the start of the tournament and Scott Williams is currently carrying a hamstring injury.

Given the abundance of wingers that the new coach has, the matches this weekend could be a trial for Adams and North to see who may start there in the opening match of the Six Nations against Italy at the Principality Stadium. 

With the Ospreys’ hopes of making it out of their pool in the Champions Cup already extinguished, this is the ideal scenario to test North out in the 13 channel again before the Six Nations without the fear of sacrificing points in the league or a place in the quarter-finals. 

However, the two-time British and Irish Lion has played in that position before, although not much, and his defensive capabilities have been called into question there, particularly as it is possibly the trickiest position defensively on the field, certainly for someone who is not accustomed to it. 

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Equally, North could be deployed as a useful ball-carrier in the middle of the field, as could Cardiff’s winger Owen Lane as well.  

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Meanwhile, there is more on the line for Cardiff this Sunday when they travel to Pool Five leaders Leicester Tigers, as there is still a chance they can proceed to the knockout stages of the competition. 

However, before Pivac makes any hasty decisions to shoehorn natural wingers into the midfield, there are still players in Wales that many feel are worthy of a call-up. The Scarlets’ Steff Hughes and the Dragons’ Tyler Morgan are two names being tipped to fill this hole in the team. 

The 24-year-old Morgan is seeking to rebuild his international career and add to his five caps, having played in the 2015 World Cup. He played his last Test for Wales in November 2018, so this is a prime opportunity to impress Pivac. 

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https://twitter.com/BedwyrMorgan/status/1213292608476340226?s=20

The uncapped Hughes will also be able to provide a lot more defensive certainty in the 13 channel, having impressed in Davies’ absence this season for the Scarlets. 

The reality is, though, that Pivac will need to assess all possibilities before the Six Nations given the injury crisis – and there is still a very real possibility that North or Adams may need to fill in at some point. 

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O
Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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