Wales team: Winners and losers as Louis Rees-Zammit handed ‘prime opportunity’ while ‘obvious choice’ gets latest captaincy gig

Following the announcement of Wales’ 23-man squad to face Japan this weekend, here are our winners and losers from Steve Tandy’s selection.

Winners

Louis Rees-Zammit

After his cameo off the bench last weekend, the poster boy of Welsh rugby is back in the starting XV to face Japan.

There have already been plenty of column inches devoted to his change in size and speed, but that will add some serious firepower to Wales’ attack and could help them go up a gear.

Having someone like Rees-Zammit in your attack will just make things happen. His speed makes him a true X-factor player, able to almost teleport up the pitch at will. One thing that does go slightly unnoticed is he’s now seeing slightly different spaces than he was before heading Stateside, which is also allowing him to fully use that new bulk.

Around that, Matt Sherratt’s attack is all about playing quick and playing wide. We saw flashes of that last weekend, but with Rees-Zammit back in the mix it will allow that to come even more to the fore.

It’s a prime opportunity for him to properly mark his return to Test rugby.

Olly Cracknell

The powerhouse back-rower follows PREM colleague Rees-Zammit from the bench into the starting XV this weekend, and while it might have come via an injury to Jac Morgan, it’s a richly deserved promotion.

Cracknell is one of the best ball carriers in the PREM right now, and has quickly established himself as one of the best in his position across the league as a result.

That tells in his stats, too, averaging 11.4 carries and 24.4 metres per game ball-in-hand across the English top flight.

His desire to carry the ball and aggression in the contact will add some serious punch and steel to this Welsh pack, while also taking the load off the likes of Aaron Wainwright, Dafydd Jenkins and Dewi Lake in the process.

A good performance could help him nail down his spot for the future.

Ben Thomas

The Cardiff man keeps his spot in the side, potentially lucky to not be banned too after a controversial yellow card, but it’s a chance to put that chat to bed and right some wrongs.

Thomas has a very clear role in this Wales side, similar to that which he had in Sherratt’s system at Cardiff at that. His ability to act as that second ball-player will be crucial in getting the most out of Rees-Zammit, Blair Murray and Josh Adams out wide, while also taking the load of Dan Thomas at fly-half as well.

When he’s on song, he can have defences on strings, so Tandy will be hopeful he hits those heights again this weekend.

Dewi Lake

With Morgan out of action, Lake was the obvious choice to take the captain’s armband.

Wales team v Japan: Louis Rees-Zammit one of four changes as Steve Tandy names new captain

The hooker is pushing his way into the elite category in the Test game, something Wales lack at the minute. His work around the park has become so crucial to this Welsh pack, reflected in his stats from the Argentina defeat with 15 tackles and 13 carries, and backs that up with some solid set-piece work too.

Around that, he just adds another layer of leadership to this fairly fresh side. Lake has heaps of previous captaincy experience across his Test career, including last year’s November Tests, and that will help him make an immediate adjustment to the role this weekend.

Losers

Tom Rogers

With Rees-Zammit back in the starting side, Rogers unfortunately loses his place.

The Scarlets man has enjoyed a pretty strong start to life at Test level, impressing in the majority of his early outings, but with a player like Rees-Zammit back fully available again after making his return from injury in that loss to Argentina, it was always going to be either him or Adams that dropped out. Adams’ experience has also potentially got him over the youngster in this case.

There was then certainly a case for him to feature on the bench, but again Nick Tompkins just has a touch more Test experience.

This would have been a great chance to nail down his long-term spot, though, so he can feel slightly hard done by, but it’s not his fault either.

Jac Morgan

The totemic back-rower is set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines, which is a bitter blow for Wales.

Morgan is a truly world-class player, and again showed his value to this Welsh team last weekend, so having him out for the foreseeable future is a massive loss.

Morgan Morse

With Morgan out of the picture, this could have been a great chance to test out the promising Ospreys back-rower at this level.

The 20-year-old flanker looks to be one of the most exciting talents Wales have coming through the ranks, and while this is still a very important Test, it could have been a good way to blood him in and give him exposure to life on the big stage.

He will hopefully get that chance sooner rather than later, but with the All Blacks and Springboks in town over the next two weekends, this would have been the time to throw him in.

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