Who would have thought it? Four months after the despair of losing at home to Italy in the Six Nations, Wales head into the final game of an away campaign against world champions South Africa with hopes of winning the series.
Who writes these scripts?
For the third Test of the tour, in Cape Town on Saturday, head coach Wayne Pivac has come up with a selection that rewards those players who have done well for him as starters on this trip.
READ MORE: Young Wales player sparks Springboks fury by stealing their water in team huddle
But he will doubtless remind the others that is a 23-man game nowadays. Which coach wouldn't?
The only change from the side that squared the series with a 13-12 win Bloemfontein last weekend is an enforced one.
MARK ORDERS assesses the coach’s latest Wales pick.
Instant healers
A generation grew up watching Wales play rugby in the 1970s believing Gerry Lewis’ sponge had special properties. Lewis was the team’s honorary physiotherapist throughout the decade of flares, platform shoes, kipper ties and dazzling Welsh tries.
He became a legendary figure in his own right. A Wales player might get injured, but watching Welsh supporters would be cheered by the sight of the team’s physio running on. Invariably, he would produce what became known as his magic sponge — a couple of dabs of which seemed to hasten the recovery of many.
We cannot be sure Wales have with them such a sponge for our times as they trek through South Africa this summer.
But neither Dillon Lewis or Dan Biggar’s chances of playing in the final Test looked great after the events in Bloemfontein last Saturday. Lewis stood on the sidelines with one arm in a sling, while his captain was in such pain that as he rose to celebrate Gareth Anscombe’s match-winning exploits at the end he had to quickly restrain himself and clutch his damaged right shoulder instead.
Yet they are in the team for the final Test of the series. Wales’ coaches will be especially relieved at Lewis’ unexpectedly rapid recovery. Without him on duty on Saturday, they could have been faced with the scenario of starting with a relative novice in Sam Wainwright at tighthead and having another L-plater on the bench in 21-year-old Harri O’Connor. An ordeal could have beckoned for two promising young players.
But Lewis’ inclusion changes the picture. He’ll probably admit himself his strengths are in areas other than the scrum, but he has experience which is always a plus in Test rugby.
There had been plenty suggesting Gareth Anscombe should start after his exploits in the second Test. The truth is Wales rightly value Biggar’s leadership and warrior-like qualities.
He is a fly-half who can guide a side around a pitch but he will also scrap for every inch of territory if that’s what the occasion demands. No-one did more to unsettle the Springboks in the opening Test than the Welsh No. 10, and if Wales are to win the series they need their skipper to be at his fiery, competitive best once again.
All-round class act that he is, Anscombe could still have a role to play. But Pivac feels he needs his captain in the starting line-up.
Adams in at 11
Alex Cuthbert’s disgruntlement as he left the field injured last weekend told a story. It wasn’t just that he’d been forced off the field early.
It was that he faced the probability of his tour ending prematurely. Sure enough, Cuthbert has exited the trip before its end.
It’s a shame for the big wing as he had started the second Test impressively, winning several balls in the air and looking revved up when he carried. But Pivac will have belief in Adams’ ability to do a job for Wales.
The Cardiff player's try in Bloemfontein was a reminder of his finishing skill and Adams can also be good in the air and a player who can turn a game in an instant. Oh, and he can be a highly effective defender, as he showed at the outset of his Test career when called upon to nullify Israel Folau. Adams did the job so well that a player described by his then Australia team-mates as “an absolute freak” didn’t make a single metre with ball in hand on the day.
No. 9 and all that
Kieran Hardy has done a lot right on this tour and little wrong. Ask Faf de Klerk.
Hardy outplayed him in the opening Test with pinpoint box-kicking and a sharpness around the field that is usually the South Africa scrum-half’s trademark. Hardy kicked accurately in the opening half of the second Test, too, so it came as a surprise when he didn’t appear for the second half, with some assuming he’d picked up an injury.
Not so, with it transpiring that the change was tactical.
Tomos Williams did much as Hardy had done, flicking out passes and kicking, though he did also feature in the attack that led to Josh Adams’ late try, first with a run, then by joining in with the passing that freed up the space for the Wales replacement wing to score in the corner.
Would Pivac decide to go with Williams as a starter for the final Test? Well, it would have meant changing what’s worked in the opening two games with the merits of such a move questionable.
As coaches never tire of telling us, rugby is squad game nowadays, and doubtless Williams will get his chance as the second half goes on.
Same again for rest - and where Wales can improve
Would Pivac opt to freshen his side after two Tests on the bounce against relentlessly physical opponents?
Some might have given thought to the idea, particularly in areas where the calls were marginal in the first place. There again, Wales have been playing well and continuity is important. Players who feel they could be dropped for the next game tend to play within themselves. “It reaches the stage where you are afraid to try anything,” a player at a leading club once told this writer. “One mistake and you’re out for the next game. It’s no way to operate.”
It’s not been like that under Pivac, but 10 players have worn the No. 6 jersey over the coach’s 29 Tests and eight have featured in the No. 7 shirt. But he’s been able to settle matters down on this trip, using only 16 players as starters. It’s continuity that even Wales coaches of the 1970s might have applauded.
What do you think of the team, will Wales win? Have your say in the comments below
He’ll want more off some. Stephen Jones will know there’s room to improve Wales’ attacking game and he’ll hope centres George North and Nick Tompkins can augment their admirable efforts in defence with more touches on the other side of the ball.
Pivac will also want to strengthen Wales’ scrum, but Tomas Francis’ injury hasn’t helped on that front. All things considered, maybe that kind of project can wait for another day.
Whatever, it has been a valiant effort so far from the tourists in South Africa. A huge challenge awaits them in Cape Town, but they have shown on this trip they are a side who will battle.
Pivac has backed those who have restored a measure of pride to the Welsh game after the disappointment of the Six Nations.
Now it’s about repaying the coach’s confidence, with South Africa on a mission themselves. An intriguing clash awaits.
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