Wayne Pivac has explained why he's preparing to hand Exeter second-row Dafydd Jenkins a Wales debut as Alun Wyn Jones missed out on selection for the second weekend in a row.
Jenkins was called up by Wales on Monday after injuries to Will Rowlands and Dan Lydiate, with the 19-year-old only in camp this week before returning to the English club ahead of the autumn finale against Australia. And after being named on the bench for the clash with Georgia, the Wales U20s second-row is in line for a first Test appearance.
As for former captain Jones, occasions where he's not been involved in back-to-back Wales Tests when fit are few and far between. That's the case this week though as he once again was not included in the matchday 23 after also missing out against Argentina.
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After former Springbok prop Tendai Mtawarira called upon Jones to retire after the All Blacks match, the 37-year-old hasn't featured since. However, Pivac, while singing the praises of uncapped Jenkins, insisted that Jones would likely feature against the Wallabies.
"We’re looking at this week with also an eye on next week," said Pivac. "Dafydd is available this week, but not next week.
"He’s back on the playing field and in a leadership role at Exeter, so we think it is a good time to get him in the environment. He’s been in camp before helping us prep for South Africa and did well in a live internal match.
"We want to have a look at him and think this is the obvious time do that, and Al will be fresh for next week."
Jenkins had previously been tipped as a 'bolter' for next year's World Cup, while he's been involved in previous Wales camps without being called up. With Pivac needing more second-row talent to come through, Jenkins' emergence could be perfectly timed.
“We’ll see won’t we," added Pivac. "He’s certainly going well in training.
“The first session today, the classroom work yesterday. He’s a fast learner, he’s picked everything up straight away and did well in training this morning in the unit work.
“It’s an opportunity for him to go well again this afternoon and he’s very much looking forward to hopefully getting on the park on Saturday and showing what he can do.
“He’s a big man, he’s only young as you say but he’s got quite a bit of experience for his age already as you alluded to with Exeter.
"With Rob Baxter having him in the leadership group there, and he’s captained the side last weekend, it speaks volumes of how he’s thought about there.”
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