England international Chris Ashton has questioned the decision that will see Wales face New Zealand later this month without some of their best players.
The match on October 30 is outside the autumn Test window, meaning Wayne Pivac will be denied the services of his England-based personnel, with no Welsh player-release arrangement in place with Gallagher Premiership clubs.
Lions Dan Biggar, Louis Rees-Zammit and Taulupe Faletau are thus all off limits to Wales’ head coach.
Callum Sheedy, Nick Tompkins and Ioan Lloyd are also unavailable for the same reason.
Read more: For the latest rugby news and interviews, stop by our home of Welsh rugby
The situation has perplexed 44-cap England flyer Ashton, who now plays for Worcester Warriors.
Speaking on the BBC Radio 5 Live Rugby Union Weekly Podcast, the much-travelled wide-man said of the call for Wales to face the number one team in the global rankings beyond the three-week period set aside for November Tests: “Who’s organising to play the best team in the world when you can’t have all your players free?
“Someone’s had a shocker there.”
Read more : The full list of 13 players who are unavailable to Wales for the game with New Zealand
Wales haven’t beaten the All Blacks since 1953 and being without the likes of Biggar, Faletau and Rees-Zammit will make the challenge that much harder for the class of 2021.
Win tickets for the Wales v All Blacks game here
But after seeing Welsh rugby take such a major financial hit during the pandemic, the Welsh Rugby Union would doubtless argue they have to do what it takes to get the tills ringing again.
And that will happen for the game against New Zealand.
With the match already a sell-out, ticket-sales alone are expected to gross £6million. There will also be rich pickings extending into seven figures from TV arrangements, sponsorship, corporate hospitality and merchandise.
On the podcast, Ashton and fellow England cap Danny Care also discussed the return to action of Gareth Anscombe after more than two years out and the prospect of the 30-year-old facing the All Blacks.
Care called the Osprey’s comeback display in his first proper game in 25 months “incredible” and noted that Biggar and Sheedy would be missing for the date with the Kiwis, adding: “This will be a great opportunity for Gareth Anscombe to get back in that Wales No. 10 shirt, the shirt that was his pre-injury, and hopefully show the world what he can do again.
“It was a horrific injury that came at a really bad time for him.
“But he inspired the Ospreys to beat the Dragons.”
Ashton commented on how difficult the challenge was for players out of the game for just nine months, let alone the length of time Anscombe had spent on the sidelines.
“You see how hard it is for them to keep turning up every day, doing rehab, doing physio, training on their own. To do that for more than 750 days and come back and play as he did — fair play to him.”
Wales also play South Africa, Fiji and Australia this autumn.
To get the latest Welsh rugby news delivered straight to your inbox, you can sign up for our Welsh rugby ne wsletter.
