Wales team selection has always been an anxious time for those in contention, even in the days when it seemed harder to get out of the side than into it.
Back then, communication wasn’t always great.
“I’d be driving through the Rhondda and the press would know the team before you and you’d see newspaper signs saying: ‘Four Welsh players dropped’, Steve Fenwick once recalled.
“‘Sometimes you couldn’t stop and you’d be driving home thinking, 'Is that me'?”
At least this week shouldn’t see a repetition of those events, with the players now among the first to know who’ll be playing after the selectors conclude their deliberations.
But several players will still be fretting ahead of the announcement for the Six Nations match with England at Twickenham on Saturday, with Wayne Pivac and his fellow coaches likely to burn much midnight oil over whether to change the team that defeated Scotland last time out.
There are three key calls that are likely to take up much of the selectors’ time.
Each one will be hotly debated...
1. What to do about Josh Adams?
It’s a tricky one, though Jonathan Davies didn’t seem to have too many problems with it on Scrum V last weekend. “Josh Adams comes straight in,” said Jiffy.
“Instead of?” came the question.
“Cuthbert” replied Davies. “Cuthbert played really well (against Scotland) but I still think Josh Adams is the best player and you pick your best players for Wales.”
A bit of a blow for Alex Cuthbert, then, and particularly as he outplayed Louis Rees-Zammit in Wales’ wing department a week ago, with the Gloucester youngster at sea defensively for Scotland’s try.
Cuthbert making way would be a call on reputation rather than form, which wouldn’t be a route every coach would want to embark upon.
There again, Rees-Zammit has pace to frighten England or any other opposing team.
Back to Adams. He has much credit in the bank on the strength of some consistently strong performances for Wales. It's hard to recall him having a bad game out wide and it wasn't his fault Pivac picked him to play in midfield in round one.
Some people may still float the idea of the Cardiff player being picked on the bench as cover for the three-quarters and full-back.
But maybe the 6ft 6in Cuthbert was just brought in against Scotland for a specific purpose, namely to shut down one of the championship’s most dangerous players, the immensely powerful and quick Duhan van der Merwe.
Let's how the selection goes.
Adams has still to be confirmed as being available for the encounter in London as he looks to shake off the calf injury that ruled him out of the Scotland game.
And Cuthbert performed strongly against the Scots.
It could come down to a medical call, though Pivac will feel whoever he picks out wide will do a job.
2. Should Faletau be helicoptered straight back in?
“He is a world class player,” said Bath head coach Neil Hatley after the club’s Gallagher Premiership clash with Leicester Tigers.
“You would never say he has been out for seven months.
“He is just going to get better and better and I expect to lose him to Wales in the next two or three weeks — he is such a good player."
What is to be said? Taulupe Faletau has only just returned from long-term ankle injury, so he is still topping up his match-fitness. But at his peak he is a wonderful rugby player, a World XV contender with class, experience and athletic gifts.
The question for Pivac is to weigh up how far he is from not just match fitness, but Test match fitness — there’s a difference.
A big difference.
If he is deemed ready, should he go onto the bench or straight into the side? And who would make way?
Questions, questions.
Jac Morgan was arguably Wales’ best performing back-five player against Scotland, while Wales don’t want to be losing Ross Moriarty’s physicality against England. Then there’s Taine Basham, Welsh player of the autumn Tests and as good as pretty much anyone on the field in the Six Nations opener in Dublin.
Also, Aaron Wainwright had his moments after coming on as a replacement against the Scots.
But let’s see how this one works out.
The first issue is whether Faletau is deemed up to speed for the Test scene so early in his comeback.
If he is, then Pivac faces a huge, huge call.
3: Stick or twist in the centre?
“The midfield picks itself: Beckham, Scholes, Gerrard and A. N. Other.”
So suggested former Liverpool and England footballer Phil Neal during a spot of punditry back in the day.
That settled that one, then.
The Wales midfield?
Well, no-one could say it picks itself.
Indeed, Wales have had a different partnership in their past six games, with Nick Tompkins having had a fresh man alongside him over the last five of those matches and Josh Adams, who had previously spent his entire Test career as a wing, starting at No. 13 for the game with Ireland.
Further dilemma comes on what to do with Jonathan Davies, who came on for the final 16 minutes against the Scots and ticked more boxes than you’d expect to find in a box-making factory.
There was a calm determination about the Scarlet that suggested neither he nor any other Welsh player was going to leave the field a loser. He organised, tackled solidly and oversaw the match-clinching counter-ruck at the end. It was a stunning exhibition of how to perform off the bench when a team is battling to win a game.
There’s uncertainty over Willis Halaholo’s readiness for Twickenham after an injury in training.
It potentially leaves Davies, Owen Watkin and Nick Tompkins contesting two places.
Watkin’s case will be built on a strong personal show against Scotland — his best display for Wales — while Pivac enjoys Tompkins’ adaptability and what he contributes everywhere.
There’ll also be nothing for him to fear against England, with the Saracen having been in excellent form in the Gallagher Premiership.
Pivac can console whoever’s left out that it’s a 23-man game nowadays.
And the truth is Davies and the rest of the Wales bench proved as much in the win over Scotland, when each man chipped in with significant contributions.
Even so, getting the starting line-up right is important.
The selectors have much thinking to do.
To get the latest rugby news and analysis delivered straight to your inbox, you can sign up for our Welsh rugby newsletter.
