{"id":582883,"date":"2026-05-14T03:34:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T03:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/582883\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T03:34:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T03:34:10","slug":"the-four-players-steve-tandy-should-line-up-after-explosive-player-picked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/582883\/","title":{"rendered":"The four players Steve Tandy should line up after ‘explosive’ player picked"},"content":{"rendered":"

Steve Tandy has been very proactive since starting as head coach of Wales<\/p>\n

Former Cardiff prop Rhys Litterick(Image: Chris Fairweather\/Huw Evans Agency)<\/p>\n

Steve Tandy secured a significant victory over England this week by persuading Kane James to commit his international future to Wales.<\/p>\n

The Welsh Rugby Union has faced heavy criticism in recent years for losing out on dual-qualified talent such as Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and Kepu Tuipulotu. However, Tandy has moved proactively to strengthen Wales\u2019 position in that area, calling James “explosive”, while Bryn Bradley also included in his latest squad.<\/p>\n

Here are four other players Tandy should look at.<\/p>\n

Rhys Litterick<\/p>\n

Quality tighthead props are in short supply in Welsh rugby at this moment.<\/p>\n

The Welsh-qualified Rhys Litterick spent two seasons at Cardiff<\/a> Rugby where he developed into a strong scrummager who also provides a carrying option.<\/p>\n

He is also a skilful prop with ball in hand, good over the ball and makes a lot of tackles.<\/p>\n

Litterick joined Edinburgh Rugby at the start of this season but has spent months on the sidelines due to an Achilles injury.<\/p>\n

He is set to be fit for the start of next season but he is a player all four of Wales’ professional clubs should be looking at.<\/p>\n

Litterick also qualifies for Scotland, but Tandy could do far worse than contacting the 27-year-old, particularly at a time when Wales needs as much genuine competition for places as they can possibly generate.<\/p>\n

Tahlor Cahill<\/p>\n

The 22-year-old second row has been a regular in the Crusaders side this season and has made a big impact.<\/p>\n

Tahlor Cahill is an athletic and powerful player who is a strong carrier and a competent lineout forward. He is definitely on the WRU’s radar and was on the verge of signing for the Scarlets<\/a> before the move fell through.<\/p>\n

WalesOnline understands the lack of certainty in Wales surrounding the future structure of the professional game was the primary reason Cahill decided to stay in New Zealand for now.<\/p>\n

But if Cahill continues to impress for the Crusaders there is a very real possibility he could get capped by the New Zealand national rugby union team.<\/p>\n

The WRU should be moving heaven and earth to get Cahill to Wales before he becomes a player who could add quality to the side.<\/p>\n

Jonny Green<\/p>\n

Powerful second rows who stand at 6ft 7in and over 18 stone don’t exactly grow on trees in Wales.<\/p>\n

Jonny Green hails from Haywards Heath in West Sussex but qualifies for Wales through his mother’s side of the family.<\/p>\n

The 22-year-old played for Wales U20s and is part of the WRU’s Wales Player Pathway (WPP) programme.<\/p>\n

But he currently plays for English giants Harlequins and while not a first-choice player, he has been getting more game-time this season.<\/p>\n

James Williams<\/p>\n

Pat Lam previously labelled James Williams as the Roy Keane of the Bristol Bears side.<\/p>\n

The 29-year-old is a talented footballer who is the glue of the Bristol Bears midfield.<\/p>\n

Williams is a lovely distributor with a good kicking game who is also solid in defence.<\/p>\n

The challenge he faces in breaking into the Wales squad is that his skill set perhaps overlaps too closely with both Ben Thomas and Joe Hawkins.<\/p>\n

But he undoubtedly fits the profile of the ball-playing inside centre that attack coach Matt Sherratt prefers to utilise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Steve Tandy has been very proactive since starting as head coach of Wales Former Cardiff prop Rhys Litterick(Image:…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":582884,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,11537,56,54,55,9015],"class_list":["post-582883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-steve-tandy","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-wales-rugby-team"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=582883"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582883\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/582884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=582883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=582883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=582883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}