Wales boss Wayne Pivac will have his fingers crossed over the fitness of Alex Cuthbert amid reports that the Ospreys winger is the latest injury doubt ahead of the tour of South Africa. According to The Rugby Paper, the 32-year-old has suffered a recurrence of a hamstring problem, with just three weeks to go until a trip that will take in three Tests against the world champion Springboks.
Cuthbert returned to the international arena after a four-year break this season, having become eligible again by moving from Exeter. He made a good impression on his comeback, particularly in the Six Nations clash with England at Twickenham.
However, he missed the Ospreys’ crucial final game of their United Rugby Championship campaign at home to the Bulls on Friday, May 20. Coach Toby Booth put that down to “a slight niggle” and said if it had been a Sunday game he might have made it.
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Given that assessment, the hope is the 51-cap Cuthbert will be able to go on the tour of South Africa. He is due to link up with Wales this week, where his injury situation will be checked out. If he were to miss out, then the likes of Ryan Conbeer, Owen Lane and Tom Rogers would be wing options, with the versatile Ioan Lloyd another contender.
Cuthbert is one of a number of players from the 33-man Welsh tour squad who ended the season sidelined by injury. The others are Josh Adams, Wyn Jones, Tomos Williams, Ryan Elias,Will Rowlands, Rhys Patchell, Leon Brown and Ben Carter, with significant doubts over some of them.
Wales are definitely without Ken Owens, Justin Tipuric, Ross Moriarty, Christ Tshiunza, Aaron Wainwright, Uilisi Halaholo, Leigh Halfpenny and Johnny McNicholl through injury. They play their first match against South Africa at Pretoria’s Loftus Versfeld on Saturday, July 2, with further Tests to follow in Bloemfontein and Cape Town.
