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Wales Online
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Ben James

Wayne Pivac's biggest selection headache assessed as he's accused of overlooking the form centre in Wales

In Wayne Pivac's 24 matches in charge of Wales, he has used a total of 13 different combinations in midfield, assembled from just eight players.

Tellingly, in the last eight matches alone, there's been eight different combinations.

If ever a statistic pointed to a relative lack of clarity in the position, this would be it.

It's no secret that Wales' midfield is generally an unsettled one.

The longest run any partnership has had in the 12 and 13 jerseys under Pivac is just three games. In the Wales coach's defence, those three games were the last time George North was fit.

Had he not suffered a serious knee injury, then the 13 jersey likely wouldn't have bounced around as much as it has post-Lions tour.

But, unfortunately he did, leaving Pivac to tweak and tinker with the options available in the hope of finding a combination that works.

There's been flashpoints, but you still sense things aren't anywhere near decided in the position.

That's hardly an ideal situation to find yourself in heading into a clash with England at Twickenham - particularly as they seem ready to bring Manu Tuilagi back into the fold.

Of the eight centres Pivac has tried since taking on the job at the start of 2020, one (Hadleigh Parkes) is unavailable after leaving for Japan while another two (North and Johnny Williams) missed out on the squad through injury.

The other five are all in the current Six Nations - with Jonathan Davies, Nick Tompkins, Owen Watkin and Willis Halaholo all having pulled on both the 12 and 13 jerseys each in the past two years.

Given how settled Wales' midfield had been for years, it's remarkable that four different players have each played inside and outside centre since the autumn of 2020.

Throw in Josh Adams, a world-class winger who might yet be handed more midfield minutes after his start in Dublin and that's your eight.

Crucially, one name missing from the list is Scott Williams.

The Scarlets star has undergone a resurgence of sorts since heading back to Parc y Scarlets after an injury-hit spell at the Ospreys, proving that class is permanent.

For many, the hero of Wales' last Six Nations win at Twickenham should be involved in some shape or form this weekend.

Speaking on Scrum V, former Wales star James Hook said of Williams: "He is the form 12 in Wales.

"He's not going to play Saturday because he's not in the squad."

You could sense the disappointment in his voice, given what Williams could bring to the Welsh midfield.

His ability to hold defenders, time passes impeccably and meld a strong carrying game with a cultured footballing ability is arguably what this Welsh attack needs.

At the moment, Wales are struggling to challenge defences - making it hard to play off rucks around halfway which is a big part of their gameplan under Pivac.

As a result, they're having to resort to kicking away slow ball as defences can read what they're doing fairly easily. Having someone of Williams' calibre to fix defenders, turn shoulders and then give a cutting pass would help Wales' carrying game no end.

Of course, as Hook points out, he's not there. So where do Wales go next?

"It'll be interesting to see what they do at centre," added the former Ospreys playmaker.

"It's an unsettled position for Wales at the moment. We talk about the creative spark.

"You look at the 10s in the Six Nations - Garbisi, Russell, Smith, Ntamack - they're all creative sparks.

"Dan (Biggar) is our 10. That's not going to change.

"So if the creative spark isn't going to come at 10 for us, where is it going to come?

"For me, Halaholo is someone I'd like to see at 12 but he hasn't played since December."

It would be a big risk to throw Halaholo in to start at Twickenham. There's probably not been a more unfortunate player in Wales in the past six months.

Denied a start against New Zealand in the autumn after a positive Covid-19 test, he then missed the start of the Six Nations through injury.

He was released to Cardiff to get minutes under his belt, only for a laceration to his eyelid to curb any chance of that. To compound matters, Cardiff's game was ultimately postponed meaning he'd have been out of luck regardless.

There's no doubt he can do the things mentioned above, in terms of fixing defenders and timing passes. In his one start in the 12 jersey, he showed glimpses of that against Australia.

It seems unlikely Pivac would risk that though.

So who does he turn to?

Tompkins and Watkin did a fine job against Scotland and the smart money would be on them to retain their places, while Jonathan Davies' cameo in that match showcased the experience and nous that Pivac might find hard to resist.

There's also the possibility of Adams returning to midfield after missing the Scotland match through injury. You never know.

With the positions far from nailed down, there's always the chance of a 14th combination being tried out this weekend.

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