'Jonathan hasn't been dropped' - Shock Davies omission explained
Wayne Pivac believes victory over Australia on Saturday would mean injury-hit Wales could reflect on a “successful” Autumn Nations Series campaign.
Wales have more than 15 players unavailable – including a number of British and Irish Lions – for the Wallabies’ visit to the Principality Stadium.
And even after naming his team to face Australia, Wales head coach Pivac still requires final confirmation on the availability of two planned starters in wing Josh Adams and prop Tomas Francis.
Adams missed the victory over Fiji last weekend due to a calf muscle issue, while Francis was concussed during training last week.
“We’ve named him (Adams) on the basis he will come through training (on Thursday),” Pivac said. “We’ve been advised that he should.
“I am hoping like everyone else that he comes through because he is an important part of our side.”
And on Francis, Pivac added: “He is seeing an independent consultant this evening (Thursday), so he has been named on the proviso that he comes through that process.
“Failing that, we have obviously been training with Plan B all week.”
Assessing the autumn campaign as a whole – Wales suffered contrasting defeats against New Zealand (54-16) and South Africa (23-18) before beating Fiji – Pivac said: “We have lost senior guys that would hurt any side.
“But it is great opportunities for guys, and some have come in and done very, very well. That has been a massive positive.
“To come up against the world champions (South Africa) in conditions that suited them, that was a huge effort from our players, particularly the forward pack, who are probably the most damaged in terms of loss of experience.
“And then to turn around and play that game against Fiji, which was always a very difficult and physical opponent.
“A win is what we are after, and I think a win would make it successful.”
Other starters include centre Uilisi Halaholo, who tested positive for coronavirus last month and spent 10 days isolating, partnering Nick Tompkins in midfield.
Scarlets’ 93 times-capped centre Jonathan Davies does not feature, with flanker Ellis Jenkins continuing as captain at the Principality Stadium.
Jenkins is joined in the back-row by a fit-again Aaron Wainwright and Taine Basham and there is a recall for Lions prop Wyn Jones, who packs down alongside Ryan Elias and Francis.
Davies is currently on 99 Test match appearances for Wales and the Lions, although any chance of hitting the century landmark will have to wait until at least the Six Nations later this season.
“He is hungry,” Pivac added. “He’s just as hungry as if he had one or two caps.
“He desperately wants to play for his country. He knows he has got more to give. He will go back to club rugby and look to force his way back into the (Wales) side.
“I had a good chat with Jonathan. Obviously, he would love to be out there playing.
“We wanted to have a look at Willis (Halaholo) earlier in the autumn but we weren’t able to because of the Covid situation.
“He came off the bench last week and did a lot. We want to see him in his first start to see how he goes.
“We think he has earned the right to start, and Nick played well last week, so we will go with that combination.
“There is a big difference between dropping and rotating. Jonathan hasn’t been dropped, but we want to have a look at Willis and also Josh (Adams) in midfield.
“So there is no place for Jonathan because of what we wanted to look at in midfield. Hopefully that explains that.”
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Skelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
Go to commentsSharks deserved to be far further back by the last quarter. Their tackling was awful, their set pieces were disappointing, their defensive organization was poor (especially on the Kok side of the D line), they kept making unnecessary errors, and they never looked like cracking the Clermont defense during those first 60m. Masuku kept them in touch, with some help from the Clermont generosity on penalty opportunities. Agree with the writer of this article. It was belligerence, and ability to raise their pressure game just enough, that turned the last quarter into a Bok-style shutout. Clermont have a reputation of not playing the full 80m, and there was a bit of that for sure. But, quite often when the intensity of a team drops off in the last quarter credit is due to the opponent for tiring them out. At 60m, with the Kok try, you thought that just maybe the game was on. At 70m, with the Mapimpi contribution, one felt that Clermont were fading, while facing a team that would maintain the pressure game through the final whistle. Good win in the end, but the Sharks are still playing way below their potential. And with their resources, and a coach that has had enough time to figure things out, they are running out of excuses.
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