Wayne Pivac says Wales could have more than one captain during the Autumn Series after losing Dan Biggar in an injury hammer blow.
Northampton outhalf Biggar, who skippered Wales throughout last season’s Six Nations and to his country’s first victory over the Springboks in South Africa three months ago, is sidelined because of a knee injury.
He will miss November Tests against New Zealand, Argentina and Georgia in Wales’ final autumn programme before the World Cup next year.
And Biggar is unavailable for Wales’ closing autumn appointment with Australia on November 26th as that game falls outside World Rugby’s Test window, when Gallagher Premiership clubs do not release their players for fixtures other than England’s.
No captaincy replacement has yet been announced, although Biggar’s fellow British and Irish Lion Adam Beard would be a clear favourite. Other options include three more Lions in Alun Wyn Jones, Ken Owens and Justin Tipuric.
“We hadn’t planned on changing the captain, but obviously with Dan’s injury that is something we will look at in the coming days,” Pivac said. “With Dan, we would expect him to be playing by the end of the autumn series, but of course the last game is against Australia, so that rules him out.
“We haven’t selected him on that basis, but we don’t expect him to be out too long. There will be a captain for the series, but four Test matches is a big ask these days for anyone to start in all four. So there might be more than one, but we will have a captain and vice-captain.
“Dan offers a lot, not just on the park, but off it as well. Anyone who has played 100 Test matches does that.
“He is a big loss, but Gareth (Anscombe) was his understudy on the summer tour, if you like. He played very well in that second Test, the famous victory there (against South Africa).”
Biggar apart, players unavailable through injury also include fullback Liam Williams and prop Wyn Jones, in addition to back-row forwards Josh Navidi and Taine Basham.
Pivac’s squad features five uncapped players – Rio Dyer, Joe Hawkins, Sam Costelow, Dane Blacker and Josh MacLeod – and a recall for full-back Leigh Halfpenny, who has not played Test rugby since he suffered a serious knee injury 15 months ago.
But there is no place for British and Irish Lions scrumhalf Gareth Davies, with Blacker joining Kieran Hardy and Tomos Williams as the number nines, prop Rhys Carre or flanker Ross Moriarty.
Pivac added: “Rhys went to South Africa and was given a brief coming back on what we expected in terms of general conditioning and getting in the right shape to play international rugby.
“He has fallen short of that. He has got a lot of hard work to do with his club. He has had big moments, which is clear for everyone to see. But in Test rugby, it’s about 60 minutes or 20 minutes of intense rugby.
“The levels of conditioning you have to get to in order to survive in our camps, he hasn’t quite reached.
“In terms of Ross, it was a tough conversation because he has just come back from injury.
“We know he is good. His target is the Six Nations. We’ve asked him to work on a couple of things in his game which he will go away and work hard on.”
Wales open their autumn programme against the All Blacks in Cardiff on November 5th.
They have not beaten New Zealand since 1953, and while the tourists won this year’s Rugby Championship, they lost two of their first three games, including a home defeat against Argentina.
“I am really looking forward to it,” Pivac said. “I know the players are looking forward to it, and it is an opportunity to create history.
“We were hell-bent on doing that in South Africa, and we would love to create some history in that (New Zealand) match.”
Wales squad
Forwards: Adam Beard (Ospreys), Ben Carter (Dragons), Ryan Elias (Scarlets), Taulupe Faletau (Cardiff), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys), Rhodri Jones (Dragons), Dewi Lake (Ospreys), Dillon Lewis (Cardiff), Dan Lydiate, Josh MacLeod, Jac Morgan (all Ospreys), Ken Owens (Scarlets), Tommy Reffell (Leicester Tigers), Will Rowlands (Dragons Rugby), Nicky Smith, Gareth Thomas, Tomas Francis, Justin Tipuric (all Ospreys), Christ Tshiunza (Exeter Chiefs), Sam Wainwright (Saracens)
Backs: Josh Adams (Cardiff), Gareth Anscombe (Ospreys), Dane Blacker, Sam Costelow (both Scarlets), Alex Cuthbert (Ospreys), Rio Dyer (Dragons), Leigh Halfpenny, Kieran Hardy (both Scarlets), Joe Hawkins, George North (both Ospreys), Rhys Priestland (Cardiff), Louis Rees-Zammit (Gloucester), Nick Tompkins (Saracens), Owen Watkin (Ospreys), Tomos Williams (Cardiff).
