When Wales went to the first World Cup they opted not to head to the Swiss Alps to round off their preparations.
Instead, it was a weekend in Saundersfoot for the class of 1987.
“We trained on the Friday, had a game situation on the Saturday, had a few beers in the evening and did a fun run on the Sunday,” Adrian Hadley later recalled in an interview with WalesOnline. “They made us all do the fun run to try to sweat the beer out of us.”
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It’s improbable a similar approach will be followed by Wayne Pivac and his coaches in the run-up to France 2023. But there are sure to be controversies in selection as there were those many years ago, when the selectors chose to ignore the claims of Neath’s marauding back row trio of Phil Pugh, Lyn Jones and Mark Jones. Lyn the Link, tough, dynamic, fast and clever, was particularly unlucky not to make the cut.
Who will make Pivac’s squad for next year and who will fall by the wayside? Hard to predict with any degree of certainty 14 months out from the tournament, but this is our best guess at how the 33-strong squad is now looking.
Back three (5)
Liam Williams, Louis Rees-Zammit, Josh Adams, Alex Cuthbert, Johnny McNicholl.
The big omission is Leigh Halfpenny. He has the quality and character to give Pivac a big call to make, but right now, given that he hasn’t played for more than a year after his injury, he has ground to make up.
Johnny McNicholl needs a big season. But Pivac likes his game-breaking qualities and aerial skills, as well as his ability to operate at full-back and wing.
Williams, Rees-Zammit, Adams and Cuthbert look well-placed to make the squad, with the quartet all having their moments on tour in South Africa. Coaches tend not to forget.
Centres (3)
George North, Nick Tompkins, Owen Watkin
Tompkins had a decent tour of South Africa, all things considered. He is no playmaker but he is busy and he impacts matches in different ways.
Wales don’t have a 12 who can offer a kicking option outside Dan Biggar but Pivac thinks highly of Tomkins and the Saracen has reclaimed his place as a starter after seeing others feature in the run-on side over the last two rounds of the Six Nations.
North showed his worth in the third Test against the Springboks, running strongly and turning up to quell a number of defensive emergencies. Wales just have to bring him into play more often.
Watkin has been next in line on this tour and is a player who Pivac trusts, with the Osprey featuring in every round of the Six Nations.
Jonathan Davies, Willis Halaholo and Johnny Williams will all be pushing hard, but could well miss out.
Fly-halves (3)
Dan Biggar, Gareth Anscombe, Rhys Patchell
Biggar is on course to lead Wales into the World Cup. He wears his heart on his sleeve and would ferociously dispute a game of tiddlywinks if that were the only contest in town.
He can also inspire. Anscombe is a class act who, as he showed in South Africa, can be a matchwinner.
Who will fill the third place at No. 10 is less clear, but Wales chose Patchell for this trip and so the rest have ground to make up.
Scrum halves (3)
Kieran Hardy, Tomos Williams, Gareth Davies
Same as the above. The three picked this summer seem set to travel with Wales to the World Cup.
Hardy largely had a fine series against the Springboks, box kicking expertly in the first two Tests. If he wasn’t quite so on the money in the final game of the series, he has probably banked credit with Pivac and Stephen Jones for his efforts in Pretoria and Bloemfontein.
Tomos Williams similarly is heading for France next year. After he came onto the pitch on Saturday, a thousand seeds of uncertainty seemed to be scattered in South African ranks, with Williams showing invention the Springboks struggled to deal with.
Davies may be vulnerable to a challenge from outside the squad, but he did finish last season well and he has been a constant in Pivac’s scrum-half thinking.
Props (6)
Gareth Thomas, Wyn Jones, Rhys Carre; Tomas Francis, Dillon Lewis, Leon Brown.
Nicky Smith is out of favour — explanations on a postcard, please — and so will have to change the selectors’ thinking to force his way into contention. But he is a quality option for Pivac, with Rhys Carre needing to start the season well and then hold his form.
In fairness to Carre, he did end last term strongly and especially so with his play around the field. We can be less certain of his ability to scrummage to Test level at this point. But he offers something different.
Gareth Thomas is now Wales’ first-choice loosehead after a strong tour with Wyn Jones adding experience and depth. How Wales will be pleased to see Tomas Francis back after his injury in Africa.
Dillon Lewis and Sam Wainwright, neither recognised as a Test-class scrummager, performed manfully under trying circumstances against the Springboks. Expect Francis to return to prominence, with Leon Brown also restored to the set-up.
Sadly, injuries bedevil Samson Lee.
Hookers (3)
Ryan Elias, Dewi Lake, Ken Owens
Ryan Elias has started in this series as Wales have enjoyed Dewi Lake’s work off the bench. That said, they wouldn’t have much enjoyed his lineout throwing of late.
He has wobbled as he used to after breaking into the Ospreys set-up. Wales and the Ospreys have to work with him to exorcise those gremlins because in other areas he excels. His ball-carrying, tackling, work over the ball and leadership all mark him down as a huge talent in the making.
But he has to improve his darts.
Keep an eye on Ken Owens in the coming season. He is a warrior in his own right and he’ll be aiming for a last World Cup hurrah.
Don’t rule out such a scenario coming to pass. Elias, at this point, is Wales’ number one No. 2.
Locks (4)
Adam Beard, Will Rowlands, Alun Wyn Jones, Christ Tshiunza
The first three pick themselves here. Beard and Rowlands showed up well against the Springboks, with Rowlands’ effort in the opening Test of the series one of the best efforts by a lock over the campaign.
And Jones showed he could still deliver against the very best with a strong effort off the bench in Cape Town. All the old defiance and competitive zeal were there. It was as if someone had transported us back to the spring of 2019, when some reckoned him to be the best player in the world.
Who Pivac picks as his fourth lock will be intriguing. It could be Ben Carter, who toured with Wales this summer without actually taking the field.
Or it may be that he introduces Dafydd Jenkins into the set-up after the youngster’s strong performances for Wales at the U20 Summer Series in Italy. Jenkins is going to play for Wales at some point — it’s a question of ‘when’, not ‘if’.
Isn't it?
Maybe Seb Davies will come back into the picture. Or could it be that Pivac will turn to Christ Tshiunza. You can read more about him here.
Like Jenkins, he had an exceptional Summer Series with Wales U20s. Maybe he’s a shade more physical than his mate at this stage — put a brick wall in front of him and ask him to carry and the probability is within seconds you’ll be looking at a pile of rubble with Tshiunza the other side.
Given that Pivac has already capped the Whitchurch High School product, maybe he’s the one to keep an eye on.
Back row (6)
Ross Moriarty, Dan Lydiate, Justin Tipuric, Tommy Reffell, Taulupe Faletau, Josh Navidi.
If their trip to South Africa has taught Wales anything it is that there is still much to be gained from having an old-fashioned blindside in their squad, a player who can shift the momentum of a game with a single tackle and inspire those around him with his resolve.
Dan Lydiate filled the role extraordinarily well in the second Test. It was Lydiate to a tee, of course, with the opposition running hard and straight.
But someone needed to knock them to the ground and the Welsh No. 6 did the job brilliantly.
Ross Moriarty and Josh Navidi can cover No. 8 as well as blindside, while there are few better middle-of-the-back-row men in the world than Faletau, if any. Aaron Wainwright will be determined to remind Pivac of his quality, too.
The battle to feature at openside is set to be ferocious. Taine Basham is multi-skilled and Jac Morgan performed consistently strongly for the Ospreys in 2021-22.
But if Justin Tipuric is at his best next term it would be a surprise if he didn't fill one of the openside spots. He has an all-court game and rugby intelligence that sets him apart.
Tommy Reffell has put down a marker for France as well. If he doesn't have the creativity or subtlety of, say, Tipuric or Basham, he is a scrapper who'd fight a hungry wolf for the last lamb chop in the house if it would move his team a millimetre closer to victory. He also has the ability to win turnovers in any company.
Right now, he'll take some shifting from Pivac's plans.
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