The scene is still evocative, with Warren Gatland and then Welsh Rugby Union chief executive Roger Lewis walking into The Bush Inn in St Hilary near Cowbridge and the whole place suddenly falling quiet.
“It was like a scene from one of those Westerns when the doors to the saloon open and everyone turns to stare as the gunslinger walks in,” Lewis later reflected. “There had been a chatter of noise. Suddenly it was silence, everyone whispering in corners.
“We walked up to the bar, ordered two pints of bitter, and went to sit down. The noise started up again and a well known local character called John sauntered across: ‘Hello Mr Gatland, I’d like to introduce myself. I’m one of Wales’ three million selectors’. Warren just burst into laughter.”
Read more: The full Wales casualty list ahead of South Africa tour
Those three million selectors are still out there, though, each with different opinions about who should feature for Wales. Deciding the make-up of the national side can be a challenging job at the best of times, because calls are so subjective.
Even so, certain omissions will always feel a shade perplexing. Of the class of 2021-22, we look at those individuals who have been overlooked by Wayne Pivac for a cap this term despite consistently strong form for their clubs and regions.
Scott Williams (Scarlets, centre)
He’s been widely regarded as the top-performing centre on the regional scene this season but that hasn’t been enough to earn him a cap to add to the 58 he already has in his locker.
Injuries have hammered Williams to the point where there might be some uncertainty about his ability to manage the rigours of international training and playing. That said, for much of this campaign, the centre had coped without too many obvious problems as he banged in a series of high-quality displays for the Scarlets.
Barely a month ago, ex-Ospreys coach Sean Holley was singing his praises, saying: “Scott should be playing for Wales. He’s everything Wales are missing at the moment — experience, class, physique, kicking game, passing, ingenuity. He should be playing for Wales. He’s been great this season.”
Sadly for Williams, a shoulder injury has ruled him out for the rest of the campaign. But there haven’t been many players who have performed better in Welsh rugby in 2021-22.
Harrison Keddie (Dragons, back-row)
“He has been outstanding,” said a Dragons insider earlier in the season. The call had been made with the intention of discussing Taine Basham, but the conversation quickly turned to Harrison Keddie. “Every week he fronts up. He never goes missing in action,” the voice on the other end of the phone said.
Director of rugby Dean Ryan has consistently been on the same beat, saying in January: "You should be writing headlines about him because he is a standout player for us week-in, week-out.” You can read more about Keddie here.
Now, Ryan is at it again, calling the back-rower “incredible” and suggesting that when it came to selection, the Dragons’ star names — the east Wales region have Basham, Aaron Wainwright and Ross Moriarty on their books — would have to match what Keddie’s doing.
Yet Wales seem to have a blindspot over a player who even managed to cut it as an 18-year-old when walking into an Ebbw Vale dressing room that contained gnarled campaigners led by skipper and tattoo king Damien Hudd, who formed a formidable second-row partnership with Ashley Sweet, with the likes of Gethin Robinson, Ronny Kynes and Rhys Clarke also on board.
“He fitted in with no problems whatsoever,” recalled Vale head coach Jason Strange, who also guided the 2016 Wales U20 Grand Slam-winning side of which Keddie was an integral part. “Here was a young man arriving arriving at a club with a team that contained a lot of experienced players who didn’t suffer fools. But Harrison had an outstanding work ethic and a level of honesty and humility that impressed everyone.”
Keddie is still impressing people. Unfortunately for him, convincing the Welsh selectors of his merits is a work in progress. But he’ll continue to give his all on a weekly basis. That’s the only way he knows how to operate.
Ryan Conbeer (Scarlets, wing)
Were this just based on recent weeks, Tom Rogers would have more words written about him as well, for he has been to the fore for the Scarlets in a wiry, physical and determined sort of way.
But fellow Scarlet Conbeer has also been performing at a high level, notably against Bristol Bears in the Heineken Champions Cup in January, when he made 159 metres with ball in hand, along the way beating eight defenders. He is direct, quick, consistent and an all-round handful. Every time he plays he seems to do well.
Morgan Morris (Ospreys, back-row)
A player who seems to cover every blade of grass whenever he takes the field, yet no reward has come his way from the Wales selectors. Morris has been covering No. 8 and openside, and he has shone in both positions.
He may not be the biggest in the middle-of-the-back-row slot, but he uses his intelligence to make good decisions and he makes ground as a ball carrier and invariably poses a threat over the ball. His ability to pilfer possession is evident in the openside role as well and the son of former Dunvant stalwart Paul Morris doesn’t miss many tackles.
What does he need to do to challenge at Test level? Pivac should tell him.
Rhys Webb (Ospreys, scrum-half)
Rhys Webb is realistic enough to know where he stands in the Wales scrum-half pecking order. The Osprey hasn’t started a Test since the autumn of 2020 and there is no obvious sign of the situation changing any time soon.
It's Wales' loss.
Webb has been exceptional for his region this year, leading from the front as captain and helping to hold a young side together. Of Wales-qualified players, only Johnny McNicholl has scored more tries than the 33-year-old in the United Rugby Championship. If the perception is that he's lost a yard of pace these days, Webb makes up for it with quick thinking and sharp decision-making. And his self-belief continues to be off the scale.
Asked recently about Webb’s consistency, Ospreys coach Toby Booth said: “We’ve acknowledged that in our team meeting. We made him captain because he’s a competitor above anything else. When we played the Lions he shut down a couple of attacks on his own because he wanted to compete and we’ve talked about how infectious that behaviour can be.
“Webby’s a guy who keeps putting his hand up and he has done all year. He’s been very consistent for us as a captain and in the behaviours we want to see.”
A podcast offering from the 2017 Test Lion seems to have led Pivac to feel Webb didn’t want to be Wales’ third-choice scrum-half. Has that interpretation since been checked out with the man himself? Whatever, week-in, week-out Webb has shown up well for the Ospreys, and Wales have overlooked him.
James Botham (Cardiff, back-row)
Injury meant he missed the early months of the season and so had little chance to put his hand up for the Six Nations. But he has still been a fine performer for Cardiff in recent months.
While others in the set-up have struggled, Botham has kept his standards high. His absence against the Scarlets at the Arms Park last week was felt because he is the type who never gives up.
Over his most recent five appearances he made 68 tackles and nailed all bar one. He’s averaged more than 30 metres a game with ball in hand over his past four outings. Even against the Stormers, when Dai Young’s side were thrashed 40-3, the youngster emerged in credit.
He’s also been moving around the back row. Wales’ depth in that area has left him on the outside looking in. Botham needs to stick at it and hope the situation changes. If he holds his form, there's a fair chance it will.
Tommy Reffell (Leicester, openside)
This one’s topical, with Reffell playing the house down for Leicester Tigers in their 29-10 Heineken Champions Cup win over Clermont Auvergne at Stade Marcel Michelin. Afterwards, the calls for Wales were numerous and loud across the Twittersphere. Possibly, if Earth were playing Mars just beyond the Jezero Crater this week there would have been demands for Reffell to wear the No. 7 jersey for the away team.
Back in the autumn Pivac confirmed the Pencoed product was on Wales’ radar but suggested he didn’t yet suit the national team’s style of play.
There is also the point Pivac has other options, including Josh Navidi, Jac Morgan, Taine Basham, Josh Macloed, James Botham and Thomas Young. Oh, and when Justin Tipuric returns from injury, he’ll be there or thereabouts for top spot on that list as well.
Counting against Reffell, too, is that he plays his rugby in England, meaning he wouldn’t be available for fallow weeks in the Six Nations and out-of-window activity with the national squad during the autumn.
Despite all those things, the uncapped openside is banging hard on Pivac’s door.
