1
Wayne Pivac names his first Wales team
By Online Editors
Wayne Pivac has named his first Wales side to face the Barbarians in Cardiff on Saturday. Justin Tipuric will captain the XV taking on the famous Baa-Baas for the first time since 2012. It includes Scarlets wing Johnny McNicholl making his first appearance for Wales.
The forward line-up is made up of players who featured in the recent World Cup with Tipuric named in a back row alongside Aaron Shingler and Aaron Wainwright.
Jake Ball and Adam Beard feature in the second row with Wyn Jones, Ken Owens and Dillon Lewis named in the front row.
Cardiff Blues half-backs Tomos Williams and Jarrod Evans are named together with Hadleigh Parkes and Owen Watkin partnering in midfield. Uncapped McNicholl will line-up in a back three alongside Josh Adams and Leigh Halfpenny.
"This week has been hugely exciting and hugely important for us as a group," said Pivac. "It has been an opportunity for us as a new squad and management to get together and to set the scene for what the future holds.
(Continue reading below...)
"There has been quite a lot of learnings for the squad this week, looking at what we are trying to do and us providing some clarity but we have also stressed the enjoyment factor of being together for the first time and the excitement of not only this weekend but the future.
"This weekend itself is really exciting. The Barbarians are what rugby is all about. It is the fun element of the game and supporters should be looking forward to some good old fashioned running rugby and it should be an entertaining afternoon.
"It is fantastic to have a double header at the Stadium with Wales women and it should be a great showcase of rugby.”
Elliot Dee, Rob Evans and Leon Brown provide the front row cover on the bench with Seb Davies and Ollie Griffiths completing the forward contingent. Gareth Davies, Sam Davies and Owen Lane provide the backline cover.
Wales (v Barbarians, Saturday)
Leigh Halfpenny; Johnny McNicholl, Owen Watkin, Hadleigh Parkes, Josh Adams; Jarrod Evans, Tomos Williams; Wyn Jones, Ken Owens, Dillon Lewis, Jake Ball, Adam Beard, Aaron Shingler, Justin Tipuric (capt), Aaron Wainwright. Reps: Elliot Dee, Rob Evans, Leon Brown, Seb Davies, Ollie Griffiths, Gareth Davies, Sam Davies, Owen Lane.
WATCH: Bristol coach Pat Lam insists the Bears are still way below the salary cap despite signing Semi Radradra
Trending on RugbyPass
2
All Blacks XV player ratings vs Munster
3
Suaalii strikes awe as Wallabies lose midfielder
4
Scott Robertson responds about handling errors
5
Latest Comments
Nah, that just needs some more variation. Chip kicks, grubber stabs, all those. Will Jordan showed a pretty good reason why the rush was bad for his link up with BB.
If you have an overlap on a rush defense, they naturally cover out and out and leave a huge gap near the ruck.
It also helps if both teams play the same rules. ARs set the offside line 1m past where the last mans feet were😅
Go to commentsYeah nar, should work for sure. I was just asking why would you do it that way?
It could be achieved by outsourcing all your IP and players to New Zealand, Japan, and America, with a big Super competition between those countries raking it in with all of Australia's best talent to help them at a club level. When there is enough of a following and players coming through internally, and from other international countries (starting out like Australia/without a pro scene), for these high profile clubs to compete without a heavy australian base, then RA could use all the money they'd saved over the decades to turn things around at home and fund 4 super sides of their own that would be good enough to compete.
That sounds like a great model to reset the game in Aus. Take a couple of decades to invest in youth and community networks before trying to become professional again. I just suggest most aussies would be a bit more optimistic they can make it work without the two decades without any pro club rugby bit.
Go to comments