England may be the largest blip on Warren Gatland’s radar but the Wales coach has not been afraid to look well beyond that. His squad for the RBS Six Nations Championship offers a development role as well as players expected to propel Wales to a third successive win over England at Twickenham on February 6.
Gatland acknowledges concerns at scrum half and wing, where the twinkle-toed Shane Williams grows no younger. Hence the arrival of two teenagers, Kristian Phillips and Tom Prydie, in the squad though in the latter’s case it is hardly a like-for-like replacement. Where Williams is a mere 5ft 7in, the 17-year-old Prydie stands 6ft 4in and must still be growing.
The chances of either youngster (Phillips is 19) playing in the Six Nations is slim but when Wales visit the southern hemisphere in the summer, they will be without another wing, Leigh Halfpenny, who will need clearance work done on a shoulder. So there are opportunities arising over the next few months, the results of which can be digested well before the 2011 World Cup.
There is also a sense of Welsh history here, in that they have never been afraid to go with youth, something their English counterparts have shied away from. It is an indication of how swiftly Welsh players mature, and no-one appreciates that better than James Hook at the moment; Hook, 24 and a Lion in South Africa last summer, is finding it hard to win selection for the Ospreys in his favoured position of fly half at the moment because Dan Biggar, 20, is the region’s preferred choice.
But if such selection smack of confidence in the next generation, there is no hiding the concerns Wales feel after an autumn almost as disappointing as England’s. Hence the delight that key individuals such as Stephen Jones, Adam Jones and Matthew Rees will be fit next month, in particular Adam Jones, the Lions tight-head prop who missed the autumn internationals because of injuries picked up on that tour.
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If Dwayne Peel could have been added to that trio, Gatland would have been even more pleased but the Sale Sharks scrum half suffered a recurrence of a groin injury against Cardiff Blues on Saturday and Wales can only monitor his progress over the next few weeks. Peel’s misfortune has earned a place in the squad for his opponent last Saturday, Richie Rees, who has developed so much over the last 12 months that he could make his international debut in February.