SCARLETS: Anderson to miss start of season as Davies backs teenagers to fill the gap

Scarlets number eight Fletcher Anderson is set to miss the start of the season with a groin injury, leaving Nigel Davies to lean on his teenagers in a depleted back row.

Anderson, 23, was the region’s standout player last season after arriving from the Crusaders, captaining the side when Josh Macleod was absent, but has not featured in any of the three pre-season games against Exeter, the Dragons or Saracens.

“We’re playing Fletcher week by week,” said Davies. “He’s probably going to be available at any time between now and the next three or four weeks.

“We want to make sure when he does come back, he comes back to stay. He’s had a groin issue for a number of years, and we think we’ve fixed it now. We’re nearly there.”

A back row stretched thin

His absence deepens a shortage in the back row, with new signing Cullen Grace not arriving until next month and Wales flanker Taine Plumtree sidelined until at least October.

Lock Sam Lousi started at blindside in the Saracens game, with Tristan Davies another option, while 19-year-old Osian Williams wore the number eight shirt.

The director of rugby has been encouraged by what the youngster has shown.

“Osian has shown more than enough for us to be encouraged by his trajectory,” he said. “He’s probably not as flashy as someone like Fletch, but his phenomenal work-rate is a good sign.

“We’re exposing a lot of younger Welsh players to that level of intensity, which is brilliant. When you look at people like Will Evans and Osian, they are 19-year-old Welsh-qualified players who have been outstanding in pre-season.”

‘I’m struggling to see what’s left’

The emergence of the two teenagers is, for Davies, a reminder of what the region is having to do for itself, in a Welsh game he believes has let its player pathway wither.

“Over the decades, we’ve eroded a lot of what was good about our game. I’m struggling to see what’s left,” he said.

“Our pathway doesn’t identify talent now until 16, and it’s difficult for a young rugby player, or the parents of a young rugby player, to see a pathway for a player right now.”

Davies did not spare the governing body, at a time when the professional game faces a cut to three teams.

“I look at other areas of the union, and the liability of what they’re doing, what they’re trying to do, and the lack of anything being driven at this moment in time,” he said.

It is why, he has argued, the Scarlets’ own record of producing Wales internationals from the region’s schools, colleges and clubs is central to their case for survival.

The Scarlets open their United Rugby Championship season at home to Cardiff on Saturday (7.45pm), with Anderson’s return pencilled in for the weeks that follow.

Author

Richard Bond

Swansea-based sports journalist.
Twitter: @RichBond00
Email: RichardBond@swanseabaynews.com