Posted by A post-Rugby World Cup reflection period always brings much musing on the state of a national team squad no matter what the tournament outcome may be.
Some players choose to call it a day on their international careers, some will naturally drop out of the reckoning as coaches evolve or new coaching tickets come in, while new faces will begin to emerge as plans are made for the next four-year cycle.
In Wales that process has already begun to take place over the last six months as some experienced faces did not even make it to France and new blood joined the squad over the summer, but that squad evolution has started to speed up now post-tournament as senior players retire or head for pastures new where their international selection is restricted.
One position impacted in particular is full-back where Liam Williams had already announced his departure for Japan, meaning he will not be available for the 2024 Six Nations, while Leigh Halfpenny has this week announced his retirement from international rugby after 101 caps for Wales. Two world class players and fine servants leaving a gaping chasm in the back field of the Welsh side.
It wasn’t long ago that major concern was had over the future of the 15 jersey with both Williams and Halfpenny on the north side of 30 and no obvious contenders coming through to take their place, but all of sudden for my money it’s one of the most exciting positions in the country with an abundance of talent battling to top the depth chart.
Each professional side has at least one emerging full-back with a high talent ceiling, and with the financial belt tightening going on across the game in Wales, they will have more than their fair share of United Rugby Championship and European game time to impress over the next few years.
Starting close to home and at Cardiff the head-to-head for the 15 jersey sees Jacob Beetham going up against Cameron Winnett. The men who dominated the Wales U20 full-back berth between 2019 and 2023 are now stepping up to first team senior rugby and have huge potential.
Beetham is the elder of the two at 22 and is coming off a frustrating 12-month lay-off due to an ACL tear suffered last September but looked strong in pre-season as the more well-rounded of the two players; strong in the air, a good footballer, a physical presence on both sides of the ball who could also slot in at 12 without issue.
Winnett, meanwhile, is the greater flair player. The 20-year-old, who can also operate on the wing and played at 13 on his way through the development pathway, has the basics ticked with a good aerial game, strong defensive and a surprisingly potent right boot, but has a spark about him that can make extraordinary things happen in attack.
A short trip east to the Dragons sees a new face in their ranks this season as Cai Evans signs off the back of a summer where he made his Wales test debut in the RWC warm-ups. The 24-year-old may still be seen as a fly-half by some, but full-back should be his permanent home where his aerial game is improving, his kicking game is brutally effective and a turn of pace inherited from his old man can open up a counter-attack.
Also at Rodney Parade is someone who may be on the periphery of this article slightly, but there’s something about Dai Richards that is hard to ignore. Perhaps not as accomplished in the basics as other young full-backs in the country, but his elusive running can turn a game on it’s head. That sort of x factor is something to be nurtured, rather than ignored.
Heading west and a stop at the Ospreys finds the most interesting set of young full-backs, with Max Nagy, Iestyn Hopkins and I’ll throw Harri Houston into the mix as well.
Nagy, 24, is a graduate of BUCS Super Rugby, having attended Swansea University after being released by Northampton for being “too small”. Now 6’4″ he is a physically imposing full-back that can also play on the wing and has all the raw attributes to be a top class international player. Still developing his defensive positional sense his attacking game is undoubted, as his try against Zebre on Saturday demonstrated.
Hopkins is a Wales U20 cap who impressed on a run of games for the Ospreys at the back end of last season, a slightly shorter and stockier player who carries hard and is brave in the air and defensively. Developing his distribution, primarily is kicking, is a priority but that point-of-difference in his kick returning sets the 21-year-old apart.
Then Houston, still only 19, has been the standout winger for the U20s over the last two years, scoring seven tries in 16 games. Primarily comfortable out wide he has slotted in at 15 for the 20s and for Swansea in the Welsh Premiership, where his defensive work and line breaking ability can come to the fore.
Finally we stop in Llanelli where the Scarlets will be looking to Tom Rogers to become a key man in their own rebuild, which is likely to push him on towards the national set up. The most test-ready 15, in my eyes, he continues to play predominantly on the wing but has the complete skillset to slot in at full-back underpinned by some serious pace.
With Ioan Lloyd a new arrival at Parc y Scarlets over the summer, primarily at fly-half but possibly developing a 10/15 axis with the man primed for the Wales 10 jersey from the Six Nations in Sam Costelow when the latter is available, there’s a bona fide second playmaker option there should a change of playing style come about.
On the whole it’s a brutally young and inexperienced crop of players, but with the landscape of Welsh rugby at the moment the opportunity for quick improvements are massive. There’ll be times when that abundance of youth does not work out, but at the start of a new four-year cycle, and with experienced wingers alongside them in a national team back three, they can be up to speed in no time.
The key will be exposing them at the right time, and for the right amount of time, to develop the depth needed for a tilt at the 2027 Rugby World Cup. It’s not particularly something Warren Gatland has a habit of doing, but if he gets it right then the full-back battle for the next decade is a very tasty one.
Cardiff Rugby Life 