Alex Cuthbert and Tom Shanklin have given their views on Wales’ big decisions

Ben Thomas, Dan Edwards and Sam Costelow(Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency Ltd)

Wales internationals Alex Cuthbert and Tom Shanklin are in disagreement over who should hold the keys at No.10 for Steve Tandy’s side this autumn.

Dan Edwards and Sam Costelow have shared duties for the most part under Tandy’s stewardship so far, with the former getting the most game-time under his belt in an international shirt, with the latter out injured.

Consistency and minutes in the shirt is something that is stressed by others who have worn the jersey, and both believe that a change at the heart of the Welsh backline is needed over the coming year.

“Fly-half has to be nailed down,” said Premier Sports pundit Cuthbert. “And they have to give them a run of games in there.

“For me, I think the most natural 10 would be Sam Costelow, but they seem to keep constantly changing.”

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However, Shanklin has a different view on the jersey.

“I’d go Dan Edwards, personally,” said the former centre. “That’s the decision!

“What I would say is Eddie James should be at 12, I think. I think he’s a good 13 at the moment.

“It suits him because there’s no other 13 challenging him, but long-term, I see him as a 12.

“I think we’re maybe not getting enough out of Joe Hawkins. He’s a ball-player and we’re not really seeing enough of him.

“At the moment, I think we look better when we hit the gainline hard.

“I like the way Wales try to play (with a second playmaker), but you’re not seeing loads of that. I think Eddie James can play 13, but I think long-term he’s a 12.

“Hopefully we can find a 13, whether that’s Hennessey or Joe Roberts.”

Cuthbert agreed that centre was “up for grabs”, pointing to Steffan Emanuel as someone who could break through in the coming years.

The former Cardiff and Ospreys wing believes Wales’ ambition for the next year should be cementing their place in the “top 10 in the world”, having recently climbed back in there this summer.

As for Shanklin, he believes “two games (won) in the autumn is what I think we’d take, and then you see if you can get two games in the Six Nations as well”.

“We’ll be better than last year,” added Shanklin. “Last year started off horrendous, with the first two games against England and France, but then we should have beaten Scotland and we lost by 10 points to Ireland.

“We then did a real decent job on Italy, so it’ll be interesting. I think if you look at some of the players that we’ve got coming through, you have to get excited by it.

“Louie Hennessey, if we can get him fit again, and Mason Grady, he’s had a taste of it. Kane James is doing pretty well. We still won’t be able to compete with the big teams, like South Africa and France.

“I just don’t think we’ve got that power, but we can certainly put teams under pressure. If you wrote down every single player that we’ve got at our disposal, it doesn’t look that bad. It looks better than it did.”

Another man set for a big autumn is Louis Rees-Zammit, who has returned to Bristol Bears training fit and firing.

Cuthbert has called on Wales to sort out their midfield conundrum to get the best out of the speedster.

The 25-year-old returned to the sport last season, having spent 18 months in the United States trying to make it in the NFL. And while there were plenty of flashes for both club and country, Rees-Zammit recently admitted it was a “tough” first year back in his first sport.

For Bristol, injuries derailed their Gallagher Prem play-off hopes, while after returning to Wales duty with two tries in three matches, he then went eight Tests without a try – his longest run without a score in a Welsh jersey.

The season was characterised by a move from wing to full-back, and then back to wing again. Now out wide once more, Rees-Zammit will be hoping to hit the ground running in his second season back.

And former Wales wing Cuthbert, who played alongside Rees-Zammit in his first season in Test rugby four years ago, believes that solving the puzzle in midfield could help bring out the best in the one-time Jacksonville Jaguars man.

“For me, we’re not getting Rees-Zammit in the game,” said Cuthbert. “We’re not getting our X-factor players in the game to a degree.

“Moving to full-back was only temporary. I liked the fact that he was getting more touches of the ball in hand, but to go from wing to full-back and play in Test rugby, it’s a completely different game.

“It’s a tough position. I think it’s easy to be critical in of him in his first season back.

“You think he’s been in an environment in the NFL where he was trained to play a certain way and that was all he was thinking about for a good 18 months, so to come straight back into rugby, it’s obviously taken a little bit of time.

“I think there are times where he does look X-factor. He’s in a team at Bristol who get it out to him. I think he knows this year is probably a big year with a World Cup, but, as a winger, you’re only as good as the guys inside you to create.

“Being in a Welsh team which is not really having the ball much to attack, and when they do, after defending for long periods of time, there’s soft turnovers and it’s a bit chaotic, isn’t it?

“And then at Bristol, they were a bit hit-and-miss, had a couple of injuries, so he’ll be expecting some big things this year.

“I think we probably have to ask questions of him this year and hopefully we’ll get the answers.”

Tom Shanklin and Alex Cuthbert are part of the Premier Sports team showing every game live from the BKT United Rugby Championship which kicks off next weekend with live coverage of the big Welsh derby Scarlets v Cardiff, Benetton v Dragons RFC and Ospreys’ trip to Hollywoodbets Sharks in Durban.

Premier Sports was proud to sponsor the Welsh Rugby Writers’ Association Awards as the destination for club rugby fans with 400+ live rugby games every season including URC, Investec Champions Cup, EPCR Challenge Cup, Top 14, Japan Rugby League One and the Rugby League World Cup starting in October. To join in visit www.premiersports.com