The defending champions are without the likes of Justin Tipuric, Josh Navidi, George North, Alun Wyn Jones, and Taulupe Faletau due to injury. In their absence Pivac has opted to look to the future by giving opportunities to younger players such as Jac Morgan, James Ratti, Christ Tshuinza, and Dewi Lake.
And the Wales head coach is particularly excited by the inclusion of uncapped trio Lake, Morgan, and Ratti. “Dewi Lake, you’ll recall, was one of four youngsters that we had join our group for learning purposes in 2019,” said Pivac.
“He’s been earmarked from a young age as part of the pathway system. He’s captained Wales under-20s. I just think he brings a physical presence, he’s 112 kilos, he’s the biggest hooker running around in Wales.
“He’s going to be a very destructive player as time goes by. He’s very good over the ball, he’s a strong ball-carrier and we need big ball-carriers because we’ve lost a lot of experience and some of our better ball-carriers through injury.
“What he brings will make up for the absences that we do have. People talk about his throwing but when he was in camp with us in the 2020 Six Nations and 2019, he improved out of sight.
“We’d expect that, with a concentrated effort over and above what he’s doing with his club, he will improve. We think it’s a good time to get him in there.
“Jac comes in a position where we have a lot of competition. Jac gets an opportunity and we know he’s very good over the ball and has a high work rate.
“We’ll look to add to his game and see if we can develop him further throughout this competition. James Ratti is in a position where we don’t have a lot of No.8s in this country.
“He’s converted from the second row, so he has got good size. We want to add to his game again in terms of his attacking and defensive game but we think he brings raw ingredients.
“With a bit of time and work, we can keep improving him as a player. With the World Cup around the corner, I think we need to be looking ahead as well as the here and now. Those selections are about, not only the here and now, but looking ahead as well.”
Pivac has also appointed a new skipper with 96 times capped outside-half Dan Biggar being given the captains armband. Biggar has been one of the most influential players in the Wales squad since making his debut against Canada in 2008, and Pivac is confident he’s the right man for the job.
“We’ve lost 680 caps [to injury] and that’s a lot of experience gone,” said Pivac. “Dan brings a wealth of experience, a wealth of experience in this competition.
“Also, we’re looking at form, at players who are competing in different positions and the captain has to have a guaranteed position in the team bolted on. Dan at the moment is the form 10, and there’s a lot of competition in the other positions. We’ve gone with Dan, he brings that experience.
“We’ve also named Adam Beard as a vice captain because we’re well aware that Dan and others will go back [to their clubs] for certain days of certain weeks. It’s important we have a leader ready to take over and in Adam Beard we have someone who we are earmarking for the future, post-World Cup probably.
“He’s a guy who we think has a big future, with leadership attached as well.” The Welsh Governments decision to relax covid restrictions means Wales will play in front of three big crowds against Scotland, France, and Italy, respectively at the Principality Stadium over the next two months.
Despite winning last seasons Championship, which was played behind closed doors, Pivac insists the return of crowds will galvanise the players in their bid to defend their title which begins with a difficult trip to face Ireland in Dublin.
“I’m very pleased and very happy, not only for ourselves,” he said. “We would have been desperately disappointed not to have crowds.
“I know the public are very excited, the people that I bump into, and I think there will be a rush now to pick up the last few tickets that are left for the home games. It’s every kid’s dream to play for his country, and to play in front of 75,000 Welsh supporters in that stadium, you have to be there to experience it, and to be fortunate enough to be in the squad, whether as a player or a member of management, it’s like a drug.
“You are on a high, and something that you want to get more and more of, and these boys are no different.”
