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Why Wales are backing a 184-cap duo that have started together just once before in their midfield

(Photo by Andrew Matthews/PA Images via Getty Images)

Wayne Pivac has explained why he has placed his trust in the embryonic midfield partnership of George North and Jonathan Davies to flourish when Wales take on England this Saturday in round three of the Guinness Six Nations. Unbeaten Wales are still unexpectedly on track for a Grand Slam following wins over Ireland and Scotland and Pivac’s latest gambit is to unite North with Davies in a rarely used centre partnership to try and gain an edge on the English. 

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Traditionally a winger, North has only ever been a starter at No13 in seven of his 99 Wales appearances while Davies, who has 85 Wales caps, has usually been used at outside centre, not at No12 where he will line up on Saturday.

The pair have played there together just the once before, running out against Italy in December when an emergency arose over Johnny Williams, but Pivac believes he saw enough on that occasion to give the North-Davies combination another outing.  

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“He has got a lot of excitement for the position. He has got an outside break, big and strong. He can do the donkey work if he needs to in the middle of the park,” explained Pivac about North ahead of his centurion cap for Wales in a career where his seven previous starts wt No13 have seen him partner Jamie Roberts (three occasions), Owen Watkin (once), Hadleigh Parkes (once), Davies (once) and Williams (just the once as well).   

“Jonathan brings a wealth of experience and we looked at him as a 12, not as a 13. The last time he played for us was at 12 against Italy and I thought he did a good job in attack and defence on that particular day with just homework on the computer as his preparation and the matchday warm-up as Johnny was down to play and start in that game and we weren’t going to use Foxy at all. 

“Now with a good week’s preparation under his belt and the combination with George and also how players have looked in training as well – certainly Foxy is looking very, very good from our point of view and when he pulls that Welsh jersey on he never lets the team down. It’s a big game and he has got plenty of experience.”

Lauding North for his 100th selection, Pivac added: “A lot of that was done under Warren (Gatland) and it is well documented what he has done in the past. The thing with group is he has got a new lease of life. The challenge of moving into centre has also excited him.

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“He had a couple of weeks in the autumn where we sent him away to club footy and he has responded really well to all the challenges we have put in front of him. It speaks volumes for the player. He is still highly motivated and still wants to play for Wales well past 100 games and I’m sure he is going to do that with the attitude he has shown at the moment.”

The inclusions of North and Davies in the Wales midfield were two of five changes made by Pivax to his starting XV following the round two win over Scotland. Josh Navidi replaces Aaron Wainwright, Josh Adams comes back from his suspension to take over from Leigh Halfpenny with Liam Williams moving to the win, while Kieran Hardy will earn just his fourth cap after edging ibn at No9 ahead of Garth Davies. 

Explaining the promotion of the 25-year-old half-back, Pivac said: “Two thoughts – one is form. He [Hardy] did everything we wanted him to do when he went on under pressure against Scotland. He ticked the box in terms of a young man under pressure. 

“Also, with Gareth, it’s well known what he can do off the bench when defences start to tire… it is going to be a big occasion for Kieran and he is excited by the opportunity. We will learn a lot as he will.”

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Switching his focus to wha challenge England will pose in Cardiff, Pivac added: “Having dropped the first game [losing to Scotland] makes them even more dangerous because of the pressure that comes on for them in this particular match. They won the Autumn Nations Cup and have got very good history in recent Six Nations so they are the team to beat and they pose a very big challenge.    

“We are going to have to perform well to have the chance to get the result. If we have a first 20, 25 minutes like we did in Scotland we could be out of the game. We are well aware of the threat that England pose. They gave got the pedigree in this competition and the history behind them in recent tournaments.   

“Every match there is pressure for different reasons and there is pressure on us to back up two wins with a solid performance. There is talk about 14 men versus 15, so hopefully will be 15 on 15 and we will be under pressure at times and it is how we cope with that pressure. We welcome it, we want to improve as a side and keep building. This is the perfect position after a week of rest.”

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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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