Josh Navidi: Wales flanker bounces back to brink of Grand Slam

Wales flanker Josh Navidi has played 27 internationals since his debut in 2013

Wales' renaissance under Wayne Pivac in 2021 has surprised many. It has also coincided with Josh Navidi's return to fitness.

Perhaps it is no accident that now the Cardiff Blues back-row enforcer is fit and firing after a four-month break because of concussion, a rejuvenated Wales are on the brink of a Grand Slam.

The 30-year-old only played one international in 2020, when Wales lost seven out of 10 matches.

A hamstring injury restricted him to that solitary appearance against England in the Six Nations 12 months ago before a head knock suffered in a Blues training session last August ruled him out of the autumn campaign.

Those four months on the sidelines also proved an important period in Navidi choosing to help highlight concussion issues, when he was among leading rugby figures last month calling for reform to protect players' wellbeing.

A group called Progressive Rugby want changes to tackle the issue of serious head and brain injury and say more should be done to inform parents about the risk of brain injury from repeated head knocks.

Navidi was the most high-profile current player to sign an open letter to World Rugby.

"It's all about player welfare and the ongoing research they're looking to achieve," he said.

"It's good to put my name to it and support them. The more research we can do the better to benefit the future generations of the game, which includes supporters and players. It's something which will be positive for the game."

Navidi added: "I've had concussion in the past. You know when you're ready to be out on the park.

"You go through a long-winded process of ticking boxes. It's nice to be back on the pitch.

"I had a little bit of a headache, but that was coming from my neck which was a tight muscle.

"I could have possibly been back sooner, but these things add up and you don't know what's going on.

"It's a learning curve and nobody knows exactly what the right way is. Everyone's concussion is different.

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"I was out for a while, but it was nice to be back and involved in this team."

For a few years, Navidi was ignored by Wales despite his rampant regional form. Now he has proved he is a test match animal by returning to the international stage after only one replacement appearance for his region.

After an impressive Wales replacement display against Ireland - before missing the Scotland game with a neck injury - Navidi excelled against England and picked up the man-of-the-match award against Italy.

He has also formed a well-balanced and formidable back-row trio alongside in-form British and Irish Lions duo Taulupe Faletau and Justin Tipuric.

"I enjoy it," said Navidi.

"Playing with Toby and Justin is great and we feed off each other. The workload is shared across the back-row and they're world-class players. Every time I get to play with them, I embrace it."

France stand in the way of Wales completing a second Grand Slam in three tournaments.

"They're big, strong men with a big and physical pack and a good driving line-out," said Navidi.

"That's been shown by this championship and the way they've been performing and it's exciting to go out there on Saturday with it all to play for."