Wales coach Wayne Pivac has revealed that playing in England counted against Leicester Tigers’ in-form openside Tommy Reffell in selection for the Six Nations.
The 22-year-old has been one of the top-performing opensides in the Gallagher Premiership this season, regularly piling up huge tackle counts and achieving multiple turnovers whenever he has played.
But his efforts haven't been enough to swing him a place in Pivac's 36-man squad for the upcoming championship, with Taine Basham and Jac Morgan named in the back row, plus Ellis Jenkins.
Ultimately, the Reffell v Morgan call would have been a borderline one and playing in England worked against Reffell, with the flanker not available for every training session in the run-up to the Six Nations and during fallow weeks as the tournament unfolds.
“Tommy Reffell was in the discussions along with Jac, while an injury has kept James Botham out of the early part of the competition," Pivac told the BBC’s Scrum V podcast.
"You look at a guy, where is he going to sit in the squad, is he there for learning and developing and possibly some game-time?
"The guys who are coming and going from England, they don't get the same opportunity.
"Our statistics would say 25 percent of the training is what the guys from England get to perform if they are going back each week.
"That can count against a guy in a close call and that's certainly what's happened on this occasion."
All Reffell can do is keep knocking on the door and maintain the form that has seen the tough flanker earn huge respect across English rugby.
But Morgan now has an opportunity.
The Ospreys player has displayed consistency throughout the campaign as well, with Pivac watching him produce a 20-tackle display against Racing 92 last weekend which came with two turnovers, and he has been exceptional in the United Rugby Championship.
"We know he has a high work-rate and is good over the ball," said Pivac.
"Now it's around his physicality, winning the collisions and about what he is doing in the wider channels where often we would have our seven running.
"I have spoken to him. He is excited and looking forward to the challenge and the opportunity."
On Basham, a shining star for Wales during the pre-Christmas Tests, Pivac dropped a clear hint he’s handily placed to start in the Six Nations opener against Ireland in Dublin on February 5. “He has runs on the board at Test level against quality opposition and that counts for a lot," said the head coach.
"Club form is one thing but it is about having the ability to step up to the next level. We look at the skill-sets and what they bring.
"At Test level one of the different things is the physicality required to play and Taine brings that physical edge.
"He is still developing and the challenge is to keep his feet on the ground, work hard and dominate the position."
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