Advertisement

Wales given injury boost with Josh Navidi, Taulupe Faletau and Justin Tipuric in frame to face England

Justin Tipuric - REUTERS
Justin Tipuric - REUTERS

Far from suffering an injury crisis in the back row for their Autumn Nation Cup encounter against England on Saturday, Wales are actually hopeful that they could have what might be considered their first-choice starters in those three positions.

While Ross Moriarty finally admitted defeat in recovering from an ankle injury - the Lions No 6 being released from the national squad back to the Dragons on Tuesday - there was good news from the camp regarding Josh Navidi, Taulupe Faletau and Justin Tipuric.

Tipuric has apparently passed the early concussion protocols after being knocked out in the win against Georgia on the weekend and although a quick reappearance may cause consternation in some quarters considering the heaviness of the impact, Wayne Pivac, the Wales coach, would love to have the openside at his disposal at the Parc Y Scarlets.

Meanwhile, Pivac’s assistant Neil Jenkins revealed that Faletau and Navidi have played a full part in training so far this week. Pivac has announced that he expects the Bath No 8 to return after the knee injury he sustained in the recent defeat in Dublin, but sounded less confident on Navidi, who has only played 60 minutes for the Blues since lockdown because of his own head injury concerns.

However, Jenkins had a more positive prognosis of the ultra-physical 29-year-old. “He is good at the minute, back in training and it is just a case of seeing how they go,” Jenkins said. “We are keeping a close eye on him and will see how he is on Thursday.”

Despite Navidi’s extreme paucity of match time for eight months, Jenkins emphasised that the Welsh management would be prepared to throw him straight back into the Test arena, even against such strong opposition. They have evidence to back up their theory.

Navidi had not played for two months when called in to face England in the Six Nations in March and proceeded to put in a stand-out performance in the 33-30 defeat at Twickenham. No doubt Jenkins had that bounce-back display in mind when shaking his head after being asked if it would be a gamble to name Navidi this time around.

“I don't think so,” he said. “If Navs is right, he's a fantastic player. We are pretty blessed in the back-row area, and Josh fits into that. For me, he's a world-class player, the type of guy with minimal rugby that can step up and play Test match football.”

If the trio are given a clean bill of health it will be intriguing to see whether Pivac post for experience, with Aaron Wainwright showing up well at the base against Georgia and Shane Lewis-Hughes impressing on his debut against Ireland.