Six Nations 2022: Wales hope centre Willis Halaholo will be fit to face Ireland
- Published
Willis Halaholo signed for Cardiff in 2016 and has played nine internationals for Wales
Six Nations: Ireland v Wales |
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Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin Date: Saturday, 5 February Kick-off: 14:15 GMT |
Coverage: Live commentary on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru, BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra. Live Audio and text commentary on the BBC Sport website and app. Live on S4C. |
Wales hope centre Willis Halaholo will prove his fitness for the opening Six Nations match against Ireland in Dublin on 5 February.
Halaholo, 31, has been hampered by a minor hamstring injury this week, with Wales aiming for the Cardiff centre to return to full training next week.
He started Wales' last match, alongside Nick Tompkins at centre in the 29-28 win over Australia in November 2021.
Jonathan Davies, Owen Watkin and Josh Adams are also Wales centre options.
Johnny Williams and George North are missing through injury for the game in Dublin.
Davies will play his 100th international if selected for the Aviva Stadium encounter, with his tally including six tests for the British and Irish Lions.
"Willis picked up a little strain or something with his hamstring," said attack coach Stephen Jones.
"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."
Regular wing Adams was selected to play at outside centre against Fiji in November 2021, but was forced out just beforehand through injury.
"With Josh, he's an incredible rugby player, as we all know, a world-class finisher," said Jones.
"Just look at the stats and they'll tell you that - top try scorer at the last World Cup.
"His finishing ability is superb and he's just a very good rugby player.
"We know he has the ability to play centre and we know he's a world class winger. It's wonderful for us to have those options with players."
Adams insisted he is happy to slot in where required.
"If that's where the coaches think I am best fitted for the team, that will be an exciting challenge for myself," said Adams.
"I had a little cameo there against Toulouse a few weeks back with Cardiff.
"I enjoyed it. It was a different experience, maybe a bit more touches of the ball, a bit more of a voice communicating-wise.
"Wherever I am needed I will be more than happy. As long as I get to wear that red shirt, I am happy to play anywhere."
Dragons back row Ross Moriarty proved his fitness against Benetton with an impressive try-scoring performance after being ruled out since October with a shoulder injury.
"It was brilliant that Ross got some game time, he went back to his region and went well," added Jones.
"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."
Exeter teenage lock Christ Tshiunza is back in training after testing positive for Covid-19 when the squad met up on Monday, 24 January.
Wales' long list of injured absentees means they are currently without Lions Alun Wyn Jones, Ken Owens, Justin Tipuric, Taulupe Faletau, Josh Navidi, Dan Lydiate, North and Leigh Halfpenny, who have more than 700 Test caps between them.