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3 Scrum halves and one Number 7.

Martyn Williams, Welsh rugby player
Image via Wikipedia

We all moan about sports manager decisions, but the announcement today that the Wales squad for the upcoming World Cup would not contain Martyn  Williams cannot pass without comment. And for once I won’t let my emotional side lead my thinking.

Wales are about to enter the World Cup with only one specialist Number 7, who happens to be the Captain of the side and who therefore faces the likelihood of being the first name on the team sheet. And should he need to be replaced in a match there is no specialist to replace him. Nor will there be a specialist to replace him when he is rested for a game: do we expect him to play in every match?

At the same time, there are 3 specialist scrum halves, with at least one therefore guaranteed to have a day off on every match day. This does not make sense to me. It’s fine to have cover, but you only need 2 scrum halves at any game and if one is injured a replacement can be summoned.

So the upshot is: it’s absolute madness to leave Martyn Williams out of the squad and once again it appears that Gatland has made a choice based on little sense.

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