Alex Cuthbert has revealed why he has fallen out with his former Wales team-mate Andy Powell. The Lions winger says he has cut ties with the ex-No 8 because of critical comments he made about him. The pair played together for Wales during the 2012 Grand Slam, which was Cuthbert’s first Six Nations and Powell’s last.
“I’ve sort of fallen out with him really. I remember after one of the World Cups he gave me quite a bit of s***. So I was sort of done with him really,” explained Cuthbert, speaking on the RugbyPass podcast.
“I just wiped my hands of him. There’s a few boys who have done so over the years. I haven’t got time for that, you know.”
Powell has since released a statement hitting back at Cuthbert, which you can read here.
Cuthbert added: “There’s a lot of boys commentating now that do that (criticise former team-mates). They forget they’ve all been the same situation. I know they get paid and what not to say some of the s*** they say. A lot of them have a very short memory.
“They think they can say anything they want without any repercussions when they forget that everyone believes what they read or hear.
“They think it’s harmless, but I just don’t think they should have the right to say some of the s*** they say. You’ve get people who write columns and articles and they are saying stuff willingly, ‘Oh, I’ve got to say something stupid. I’ll say that.’ There’s quite a bit of that out there.
“I don’t have time for a lot of that. Hence why I don’t think I’d ever go into commentary. I wouldn’t want to fall down that same road. The Welsh press always go in on anything. This tour now, the whole of the Welsh media will be saying we are always going to get hammered. We’ve got no chance, stuff like that.”
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Cuthbert came in for a lot of online abuse towards the end of his first spell in international rugby before moving to Exeter from Cardiff in 2018.
“I didn’t know how to deal with it. We’re rugby players, we’re not people who know how to deal with social media. It’s tough to know how to react to that. It’s hard not to take it to training and the game week,” said the 32-year-old, looking back.
“I had a tough couple of years but I actually ended up being positive in a weird way. I guess I have matured. It just developed me as a bloke in terms of how I react to situations in games. Whereas before I’d have been quite bad. Now I react differently. I’m on to the next job rather than take it personally.
“The only people I care now what they say are family and coaches. I must be doing something right as I end up playing for every team I’ve played for. I obviously do a job.”
Having joined the Ospreys last summer, becoming eligible for Test rugby once more, Cuthbert was recalled by Wales, taking his tally of caps to 51, and he will be part of the squad for the upcoming tour of South Africa, having overcome a recent hamstring issue.
“I took a little setback a couple of weeks ago, just trying to do a bit too much, but I will be fine for the start of the camp, so all good to go,” he said.
Cuthbert, a Lions Test winger in 2013, has also been speaking about Liam Williams’ recent stag do in Ibiza and how Scarlets players and some Wales squad members had to miss the trip.
“A lot of the boys weren’t allowed to go. The Scarlets got held back because they were still training. They were doing loads of fitness tests before getting their time off,” he said.
“Then a few of the Wales boys had little niggles so weren’t allowed to come. A couple of players borrowed the flights, so Kirby Myhill and Michael Collins jumped on with us as well.
“It was a good crack. There were 32 of us. Sanjay has got a lot of mates! On the rugby side, there was myself, Rhys Priestland, Gareth Anscombe. It was a good couple of days. It was needed after the long season we have had. I don’t know whether Sanjay remembers much about it. It was one of them.”
