Wales’ stocks are wearing thin amid the fallout from their superb victory over England but assistant coach Rob Howley insists they’ve replaced quality with quality after calling up James Hook and Gareth Anscombe.
Warren Gatland lost backs Scott Williams and Hallam Amos for the remainder of the Rugby World Cup after they sustained respective knee and shoulder injuries during Wales’ comeback win at Twickenham. But they have called up a player with bundles of international experience in the versatile Hook, who has 78 caps for Wales, 31 of those coming at the RBS 6 Nations. Anscombe – comfortable at both fly-half and full-back – moved to Cardiff Blues last summer from Auckland and made his Wales debut in the warm-up defeat to Ireland last month. And though both Hook and Anscombe are on opposite ends of their international careers, Howley is convinced both will make the desired impact for Wales with Fiji up next on Thursday. “James is a quality player,” said Howley. “Like with every position, it’s about competition in the squad. For me it’s been the performances of Dan Biggar and Rhys Priestland. James adds to the quality of those players. “Both James and Gareth were part of the wider squad and both played in the home friendly with Ireland. James is vastly experienced with 78 caps and can play in many positions: inside and outside-centre, at outside-half and full-back. “(Anscombe) is quality, we saw a glimpse of it when he came on against Ireland in the home game. “He has the ability to get the ball through the hands very quickly, is organised and a good communicator, whether it’s at 10 or 15. “He’s up to the speed of international rugby having played Super Rugby many times. I think we will see Gareth is in good shape and I’m looking forward to linking up with him.”
