By Steffan Thomas
Wayne Pivac has told his players to get more physical and expects new cap Shane Lewis-Hughes to lead the way.
Wales were blown away at the contact area against France last weekend and will face a stern challenge against a powerful Scotland pack in their rearranged Six Nations clash on Saturday.
And he is confident Lewis-Hughes along with Exeter Chiefs tight-head prop Tomas Francis and Wasps second-row Will Rowlands will give them more grunt in the pack.
“We’ve made no secret from day one that having watched the Rugby World Cup in 2019 that physicality is an area where we need to look at the profile and see if there’s some big men out there that can play the game,” said Pivac when asked about the strength of the Wales pack.
“Will Rowlands gets that opportunity and he’s trained well over the first couple of days this week.
“Tomas coming back was always going to get an opportunity and with Samson’s head injury that’s come a game earlier than he’s anticipated.
“It is a big tight five but we’ve got to make sure we’re not only big but we’re fit and can go 80 minutes when we need to and we have the skill set needed to play the game.”
Pivac has opted to give Cardiff Blues blindside Lewis-Hughes a first start despite not naming him in his original squad.
Some praise and reassuring to Cardiff /Wales fans that AWJ says he sees some of his younger self in Shane Lewis – Hughes.
— Gareth Owain (@ga_twin1) October 29, 2020
Wales missed numerous tackles in Paris last weekend conceding five tries in the process and Pivac believes Lewis-Hughes will play a big part in shoring up the Welsh defence.
“We just think that he’s trained very very well since coming in,” said Pivac.
“He’s impressed everybody, he’s a player we’ve earmarked for the future so this is going to be a big test for him.
“We think he deserves the opportunity with how he’s gone in training and what he’s showing us. It’ll be an exciting day for him and his family.
“Waino (Aaron Wainwright) had an opportunity last Saturday and I don’t think he had his best game. By his own admissions there’s some work to be done.
“Just the physicality that Shane brings in the defensive side of the game is a big part for us.
“He’s obviously a good lineout forward which Waino also is.
“He’ll probably just give us some more starch in defence and that’s a job he’ll be asked to do.”
