Tomas Francis, the Exeter tighthead prop, is training with Wales this week as their head coach, Warren Gatland, assesses his World Cup options in the position following the retirement of Adam Jones.
The 22-year-old Francis, who weighs more than 21 stone, was born in Yorkshire but qualifies for Wales through a grandmother. His international options remain open, a player is only committed when he plays for a country at senior or second-team level, but England have four established tightheads while Wales are looking to develop their back-up to Samson Lee following Jones’s unexpected retirement.
Francis joined Exeter from London Scottish last summer and has established himself as the leading tighthead at Sandy Park. He was being considered by Gatland for a place in Wales’s Six Nations squad, but was injured just before it was announced.
“Tomas is in form,” said the Wales defence coach, Shaun Edwards. “He is a big kid and Exeter’s scrum has been going excellently so we have brought him in. His scrummaging is outstanding but he is a skilful player as well. He is a young man who is coming from a great environment at Exeter which prides itself on hard work and we would like to think we are a similar sort of environment. It’s a case of trying to get the best players playing for us and we see a lot of potential in this lad.”
Wales will announce their side on Tuesday to face Ireland at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday, a match they need to win to remain in contention for the title. It is a fixture they have only won twice in Cardiff since 1983 and there will be no pre-match winding-up of the reigning champions this week.
“Ireland are the best team in Europe,” said Edwards. “They have won their last 10 matches and they have two brilliant, tactical half-backs. Their forwards are a well-drilled, cohesive unit and these are the games you get excited about. Our discipline let us down in Dublin last year: if you keep the ball for long periods, the opposition cannot score.”
The Ireland outside-half Jonathan Sexton, who has been pivotal in their unbeaten run – which includes victories over South Africa and Australia – suffered a hamstring strain against England in the last round, but he is expected to be fit to face Wales.
“Jonny continues to improve following a mild strain,” said Mick Kearney, the Ireland team manager. “He will have modified training during the early part of the week and train fully towards the end of it. We are happy where he is at and he has hit all his markers so far.” The No8 Jamie Heaslip has returned to training after a back injury and is also in line to play.
