Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Wales Online
Wales Online
Sport
Matthew Southcombe

Wales rugby team news as Willis Halaholo battles problem and Ross Moriarty trains for Ireland clash

Wales are confident centre Willis Halaholo will overcome a hamstring strain in time to be in contention to face Ireland this weekend.

Wales boss Wayne Pivac names his side on Thursday but it has emerged that hot-stepping centre Halaholo is battling an injury.

Attack coach Stephen Jones, though, struck an optimistic tone at a press conference on Tuesday.

"Willis picked up a little strain or something with his hamstring," said Jones.

"But we’re training as a group and we’re really healthy. That’s what we want, a healthy group to pick from because it has a knock on effect on how we train and drive our standards.

"It’s good news from that perspective."

Pushed on Halaholo's availability, Jones added: "Well yeah, he’s had a strain. Thankfully, he’s ticking all the boxes and it looks like he’ll be available for selection.

"That’s great because we know Willis, with ball in hand, causes teams a lot of problems.

"We’re just ticking the final boxes there, which is good from our perspective."

In more good news for Wales, who will be without 739 caps of experience due to injury, Ross Moriarty is back in contention.

The abrasive back-rower, whose physicality would be hugely desirable against a team like Ireland, went back to the Dragons last weekend to get some minutes under his belt.

He was replaced just over 10 minutes from the end of the Dragons' 13-13 draw with Benetton.

It is the only action Moriarty has seen since injuring his shoulder against the All Blacks last autumn but Jones says he's good to go.

"It was brilliant that Ross got some game time. He went back to his region and went well," said the attack coach.

"He’s such a strong character and he loves the physical side of the game. We know it’s going to be physical on Saturday against Ireland and Ross is excellent in our group.

"He’s healthy, he came through some game time and he’s available for selection. That’s great for us."

Elsewhere, young forward Christ Tshiunza is back in full training with the squad having completed a mandatory period of isolation following his positive Covid test on the first day of camp.

Wales say they currently have no issues related to Covid.

Want the latest Welsh rugby news sent straight to you? Look no further.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.