Once, Wales famously used to be able to whistle up a fly-half or six in the event of injuries.
They similarly have a grand record for producing scrum-halves of the highest quality.
But it is still hard to recall so many excellent players queuing up in one position as Wales now have at openside flanker.
This is a list assessing where those concerned are likely to stand in the eyes of head coach Wayne Pivac, 20 months out from the next World Cup.
16. Harri Deaves
He’s only 20 and he makes his senior Ospreys debut this weekend when they face Sale in the Heineken Champions Cup.
But if he has luck with injuries Deaves possesses the raw talent to go places in the seasons ahead.
Last year's Wales U20s No. 7 attacks breakdowns like a hungry wolf and he also piles up tackles.
The youngster is setting out in the senior game and, as such, won’t be on Wales’ radar for a while yet. But in time, if he develops fully, he could be one to watch.
15. James Davies
Remember him? A brilliant performer for the Scarlets when they won the PRO12 title in 2016-17. By the time he made his Wales debut in 2018, he averaged 1.8 turnovers a game since his regional debut in 2013, the best rate of any player in Europe over that period.
Sadly he hasn’t played because of ongoing concussion issues since appearing for Wales against Georgia in November 2020.
Wales will not be on his mind at this point. Just making it back and playing for his region again would be the priority. It would take a hard heart not to wish him well.
14. Sam Lewis
Track back to the Scarlets v Ospreys derby on Boxing Day 2013, when the visitors, defending a 10-6 lead, lost Alun Wyn Jones to a yellow card with minutes to play. Scenting blood and just yards from the Ospreys’ try-line, the Scarlets attacked with purpose. But it wasn’t to be their day. Repeated opposition thrusts saw the Ospreys required to pull off around 25 tackles as the seconds counted down, with Lewis and Duncan Jones to the fore. Lewis must have pulled off four hits, maybe five. It was the rugby equivalent of Rorke’s Drift meets the Alamo, with the flanker finally killing the game by achieving a turnover. No Lewis that day, no Ospreys win.
A Wales outing didn’t come his way back then, and almost certainly won’t now.
No, his ship has sailed.
For the Worcester Warrior, the consolation will be a prominent place on any list of Welsh rugby’s best uncapped players in the professional era.
13. Sam Cross
Here’s the guy who won Wales honours in 2017 after playing just two games of professional 15-a-side rugby in his life. It was all a bit out of the blue, but Cross had produced one of the performances of the season, against Saracens in the Champions Cup, which saw him carrying, tackling, scoring and covering just about every blade of grass on the Allianz Park pitch. For good measure, he also tussled with Owen Farrell.
Life has settled a bit since then and there have been no further Wales calls, but when he appears for the Ospreys he always gives his all, wherever he’s playing in the back row.
12. Dan Thomas
The west Walian has been a consistently strong performer in the Gallagher Premiership in a star-studded Bristol Bears side. If you want someone to put in upwards of 15 tackles a game or pull off an important possession steal, Dan’s your man.
As Wayne Pivac made clear this week, though, playing over the border doesn’t help when it comes to pushing for Wales honours.
11. Will Boyde
He’s one of Welsh rugby’s most unsung players.
But he’s a team man who always makes a difference.
Wales bypass him regularly and there’s no obvious sign of that changing, but he’s someone whose work is hugely valued by team-mates.
10. Ollie Griffiths
He’a another warrior and it seems fair to say a solitary Wales cap mocks what he’s capable of offering.
Griffiths, who can play across the back row, could do a fine job at Test level if he had the breaks.
But injuries have punctuated his career, while others have forged ahead.
9. Tommy Reffell
The Leicester Tiger has been bang on form in the Gallagher Premiership, tearing it up almost every week with tough, impressive performances, stacked with many tackles and turnovers.
But Wayne Pivac has made clear that playing in England counts against Reffell in Wales selection terms.
Until his situation changes he seems destined to remain outside the Wales squad.
8. Thomas Young
He’s on his way back to Wales from English rugby but, apparently, Wayne Pivac didn’t ask for dispensation to use him in this Six Nations.
Make no mistake, though, the athletic and dynamic Young is a good player, one who has earned respect throughout the Gallagher Premiership.
When he’s back in Wales with Cardiff next season, we’ll learn more about his prospects of making the 2023 World Cup squad.
It’s wise not to rule him out.
7. James Botham
The versatile Cardiff player is another who can play across the back row and he had been in excellent form before suffering a head knock against Edinburgh. In Cardiff’s two European matches before Christmas he was arguably their best player, bringing his physicality to the table and able to compete on equal terms.
When he is fully fit, he’ll push hard for a place.
6. Josh Macleod
Were a prize awarded for Welsh rugby’s unluckiest player, the Scarlet would win it hands down.
Denied a debut Wales cap last year because of an injury picked up 30 minutes after the team to face Scotland had been announced, he had barely started his comeback game earlier this month when he left the field with a hamstring problem.
He’s versatile but maybe his skills suit the openside role the most.
Coaches respect him and when he’s fit he’ll be there or thereabouts.
5. Ellis Jenkins
Wales’ captain for the games with Fiji and Australia in the autumn, Jenkins is a class act, a player who has a range of skills and thinks his way through games, making good decisions as matches unfold.
But which is his best position?
He may not be destructive enough to start at blindside when every back rower’s fit and he may not be fast enough or dynamic enough to feature at openside after his long-term layoff with a knee injury.
But his versatility and intelligence still make him a serious World Cup option.
4. Jac Morgan
Welsh rugby’s form player this season?
Morgan is your man.
The analytics people Opta put out a tweet this week saying that Morgan had made 144 tackles in the United Rugby Championship this season, over 30 more than anyone else, while his seven dominant tackles are also the most of any player in 2021-22.
There have also been many turnovers and his carrying game has improved.
He is still young, having just celebrated his 22nd birthday, so he is still learning.
But he’s a player who doesn’t go missing and he now has the opportunity to show the Wales coaches what he can do.
3. Taine Basham
What an autumn this guy had with Wales.
There were Hollywood carries and explosive interventions across the park.
But Basham also proved on top of the basics.
His ability to impose himself on games at such a young age was startling.
He has that extra experience at Test level and so will head towards the Six Nations as favourite to wear the No. 7 jersey in the opener against Ireland in Dublin on February 5.
2. Josh Navidi
Not for nothing was Steve Hansen startled when he clapped eyes on Navidi when Wales played New Zealand in 2017. “Where did you get the kid with the dreadlocks from?” the World Cup-winning coach asked Warren Gatland.
Navidi is a player you’d always want alongside you in the trenches.
When his contribution is not immediately obvious amid the speed and hustle of a game, the odds are that he will still be performing minor miracles somewhere, perhaps at the bottom of rucks or in other areas that are not always focused on by those who put together highlights reels.
Is he a six, a seven or an eight?
He can play superbly in any one of those roles.
When he’s fit, the Lion of 2021 starts for Wales.
1. Justin Tipuric
Injury could rob Tipuric of the 2021-22 season unless there is a dramatic improvement in the scapula problem that has sidelined him since last summer.
The hope will be that he can return sooner, for the Osprey is a true master of his craft, a player who excels in all areas of the openside’s role and is also blessed with rugby intelligence that sets him apart.
Early in his career, there were some who felt he could shine only in the wide channels.
Then he ruled the breakdown against Ireland in Dublin in 2015 and did the same against Australia in 2018 when he produced one of the displays of his career in opposition to David Pocock and Michael Hooper.
Tipuric topped the tackle count in last year’s Six Nations and when he’s out of a game for whatever reason, it invariably spells trouble in defence for whichever side he is playing for.
Despite a new breed of contenders, none yet have the experience, nous and all-round game of the man from Trebanos.
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