Six Nations 2024: New Wales fly-half Ioan Lloyd expected to face England after hamstring issue

Ioan Lloyd has made three appearances for Wales as a replacement

Wales are confident fly-half Ioan Lloyd will be fit for the Six Nations game against England at Twickenham on Saturday.

Lloyd, 22, was named in the side on Wednesday despite suffering a tight hamstring in training a day earlier.

Head coach Warren Gatland said Lloyd "trained fully" in the first session on Thursday.

"On Tuesday, he felt his hamstring was a bit tight and they treated him after the training session," said Gatland.

"It was a bit of neural stuff. They didn't think it was a strained hamstring, just someone probably doing things quicker and faster than usual, and he tightened up.

"He got through today all right and having spoken to the physios yesterday, they didn't think it was going to be an issue."

Wales have travelled to London on Thursday afternoon and have one final session on Friday before Saturday's game.

Number 10 options

Scarlets fly-half Lloyd is preparing to make his first international start when Wales take on England.

He comes into the side as one of seven changes made by Gatland following the 27-26 defeat against Scotland in Wales' opening Six Nations game.

His Scarlets team-mate Sam Costelow started at 10 in the Principality Stadium opener but was forced off the field in the first half with a neck injury which ruled him out of selection against England.

Dragons full-back Cai Evans has been named on the replacements' bench at Twickenham. Evans has only started two professional games at fly-half, both of which were for Dragons this season.

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The 24-year-old Evans has played most of his senior rugby in the number 15 jersey but was the regular number 10 for Wales Under-20s in 2019.

Wales have been looking for long-term successors to Dan Biggar, who retired from international rugby after the 2023 World Cup, and Gareth Anscombe, who was unavailable because of Japanese club commitments and now injury.

Cardiff scrum-half Tomos Williams, who starts at nine at Twickenham, played at 10 briefly for the conclusion of Wales' uncapped international against Barbarians in November 2023 and was then highlighted as a future fly-half option by Gatland.

Outside the squad, Bristol fly-half Callum Sheedy, who has signed for Cardiff for the 2024-25 season, has a knee injury and has not played since late December.

Harlequins fly-half Jarrod Evans, who has played eight internationals, left Cardiff at the end of last season and it was assumed he was unavailable for selection because of Welsh rugby's 25-cap rule.

That means players who sign for clubs outside Wales must have featured for the national side at least 25 times to be eligible for Gatland's side.

Evans was unsure whether he was available given that he had not received a competitive offer from a Welsh region before he moved to Harlequins.

Big chance for 'quality footballer' Lloyd

Gatland has outlined what he expects from Lloyd this weekend.

"He's still learning the position," said Gatland. "He's been working hard on his kicking game and strategy with Neil Jenkins.

"That's one area he was OK at when he came on, but it's a big area of improvement. We can see what a quality footballer and running threat he is."

Lloyd has proved versatile in his young career and played across the backline.

"For him, it's about nailing down a couple of positions," said Gatland.

"Whether that's 10 or 15, I'm not too sure. We're not trying to put him under any pressure.

"I think if he can build on what he did last week... he probably realises there's less space and not so many opportunities as a running threat at Test level.

"It maybe only happens once or twice a half. His game management is pretty important.

"Also, his communication with his outside backs and forwards, scanning and seeing what options are on. He's still very young in terms of experience, particularly at 10.

"It's his first start there in international rugby. Hopefully he continues to grow and goes well."

Wales have training indoors this week with their pitch at the Vale of Glamorgan hotel base being practically 'unusable' after rainfall.

Gatland's side trained in the indoor training barn on Thursday, while they'd also prepared at the enclosed Principality Stadium earlier in the week.

"We were going to train outside today, but the pitch was probably unusable at the moment," said Gatland. "There was puddles of water everywhere.

"We contacted the stadium about using that, but we couldn't get into that. We have looked at the weather forecast. You've got to play in all sorts of conditions."