Autumn Internationals Rugby News: Wales

Fans are ready to enjoy this weekend’s summer tour warm-up rugby match England v Wales at Twickenham Stadium in Cardiff on Sunday. Old foes England and Wales will be battling to win the Old Mutual Wealth Cup and adding the final touches to their form as they prepare for this summer’s Down Under tours at the same time.

Wales will go face to face with RBS 6 Nations champions England as both coaches and their sides get ready for their exciting summer 3-Test tours to the southern hemisphere. Wales tour to New Zealand, England to Australia. There are six men who are in contention to wear the Wales’ Captain’s armband in the match since it is likely that Sam Warburton will not be fit to face England this weekend due to a shoulder injury.

Wales’s manager Warren Gatland has at least five options of men to wear the Captain’s armband of other members of the side that have led the Wales National Team in the past, and others having led their first division clubs. Probably Gatland’s most likely first choice is Alyn Wyn Jones who has captained Wales five times in the past. Jones was an inspired Lions captain for their decisive third Test against Australia in 2013, when he did a great job filling in for Warburton. Jones who has captained the Ospreys since 2010, has been out since mid-March with foot trouble, and may either start on the pitch or make his return from the bench.

After Wyn Jones Six Nations performance at Twickenham Stadium on March 12, 2016, he realized his dual foot injuries which had been plaguing him for some time had gotten worse. Since then, he has slowly recovered from his heel and Achilles troubles, but now wants to return to the pitch to test out his form against the titan England side and get some match fitness ahead of Wales tour of New Zealand. Ospreys flanker Dan Lydiate captained Wales in their most recent match for Wales’ final RBS 6 Nations clash with Italy when Warburton and Wyn Jones were both out injured. Lydiate led his side to a 67-14 win, becoming the 132nd Wales rugby player to earn the honor of serving as captain.

Gethin Jenkins skippered Wales in November 2007 for the first time, leading them against South Africa with Nigel Davies as manager. Jenkins went on to skipper Wales five more times winning 50 per cent of his games in charge. Jenkins brings tremendous experience and knowledge of rugby to the team as Wales’ most capped player. Jenkins is loosehead back-up to Rob Evans and looking forward to his 124th cap against England either as captain or not.

Bradley Davis is available for Sunday’s clash with England as a result of Premier Rugby Ltd agreeing to release their English-based Welsh players for the one-off fixture. Davis was at the helm as Wales Captain on the 2013 summer tour to Japan. Davis has the attribute or being able to raise team morale with his upbeat personality. Davis’ whose tally of caps is 54, recently spent two years with Wasps, before opting to head home and joining the Ospreys.

Scott Williams has served once as Wales’s captain last August when he led Wales in Cardiff for the opening Rugby World Cup 2015 warm-up match against Ireland. Twenty-five-year-old center Williams has led the Scarlets on occasion, having been vice-captain for the past two campaigns. This season Williams has only been at the Wales helm once due to a serious knee ligament injury. It is a doubt if he will start on Sunday.

Hooker Ken Owens has not yet served Wales as captain, but his ample experience as Scarlets skipper for the past two years gives the 39-cap rugby star the needed experience to do the job. Owens is highly regarded as a level-headed man who is well suited for the role of skipper, in addition to his Cannonball carrying. However with Scott Baldwin having started the last ten Test matches ahead of Owens, he may come off the bench against England instead of start.

Meanwhile thirty-five year old Wales veteran prop Adam Jones revealed he has ambitions to coach the Welsh scrum. Jones has a wealth of talent and experience after winning 95 Wales caps during his international career and five more for the British and Irish Lions. Jones is currently playing for Harlequins and is under contract to play next season. However Jones is looking to the future and has begun mixing his on-field rugby player role with coaching at the Stoop. "I love it down here with Harlequins and I really enjoy doing some coaching,” said Jones. "It’s something I hope continues. Coaching is what I want to do; I’ve made no secret about that. I’d love to coach at Harlequins for as long as possible as I’ve really enjoyed my time here.

"It’s a case of seeing what they want from me, but if Wales would like to give me the scrum coach job, I’d bite their hand off. It doesn’t quite work like that but one day maybe it could happen. For someone like me it would be the dream job to coach the Welsh scrum," added Jones. Jones said he is looking forward to learning from former England forwards coach Graham Rowntree who will join Harlequins next season as he prepares to help on a part-time basis with newly promoted Championship side Richmond.

"I still enjoy playing and the buzz of it all but you have to start looking at other things," continued Jones. "There have been no discussions over a full player-coach role but I had a big input there last season. Nothing is set in stone but I hope it continues." Hallam Amos only played 48 minutes in the RBS 6 Nations, so the Dragons winger will be looking to prove that he is the man to play this weekend and in New Zealand with both Alex Cuthbert and Leigh Halfpenny out with injuries.

Of note is that Mako Vunipola is otherwise engaged this weekend on Premiership final duty, and Joe Marier withdrew from summer international competition leaving twenty-nine year old Natt Mullan to make his first start for England. Wales go face-to-face with Australia on November 5 in their first Autumn Internationals Test of the tournament. The Wales National Team welcome Argentina on November 12; Japan on November 19; and South Africa on November 26. All Wales matches will be played at Millenium Stadium in Cardiff, UK. Authentic, legal, Wales Autumn Internationals tickets are for sale now at cheap prices online on the LiveRugbyTickets.co.uk rugby union tickets marketplace.

Autumn Internationals rugby tickets for Wales

Wales v Australia Tickets 5 Nov 2016 Millenium Stadium Cardiff, UK
Wales v Argentina Tickets 12 Nov 2016 Millenium Stadium Cardiff, UK
Wales v Japan Tickets 19 Nov 2016 Millenium Stadium Cardiff, UK
Wales v South Africa Tickets 26 Nov 2016 Millenium Stadium Cardiff, UK