Dai Young has revealed that members of Wales’ Guinness Six Nations squad will be available for selection ahead of Saturday’s United Rugby Championship clash with Glasgow Warriors.
Josh Navidi, Rhys Carré, Dillon Lewis, James Ratti and Willis Halaholo have all re-joined the Cardiff squad as they prepare for a crucial league clash against the Scottish outfit.
However, with Wales’ campaign only drawing to a close last Saturday, Blue and Blacks trio Seb Davies, Josh Adams and Tomos Williams will return later down the line as they recover from the Championship.
The director of rugby has emphasised the importance of ensuring that all of his players are handed crucial recovery period.
“It’s always been my intention, and I only think it’s right and proper, to give the Welsh boys a week off at some point,” said Young.
“Everyone else has had one and you should never be disadvantaged because you’re representing your country.
“That’s true whether you play or not. Obviously if you play, there’s physical element to why you need to rest.
“Even if you don’t play there’s some mental fatigue there as well so those boys will get a week off at some point. The rest of the squad have.
“For this week we’ve definitely got Carré, Ratti, Dillon and Willis. They will be back with us.
“Tomos still needs to go through his return-to-play protocol with concussion. But it’s my decision to give Seb and Josh Adams a week off to get over the Six Nations games.
“They’ll come back in next week and then we’ll give the others a week off a bit further down the line.
“Navs is obviously back involved because he was called up late, so he had a bit of time off with the rest of the squad.
“You get that real proud moment of being in the squad, and you want to be in the squad. But it’s tough and disappointing if you go through the Six Nations without figuring.
“You’ve put all the hard work in without maybe having the reward. It is tough but it happens every year. The only thing they can do is get back out on the paddock and put their hand up.”
With the Cardiff squad back in Wales following their recent trip to South Africa, Young also provided an update on the four players who were flown home early, having been sidelined following the first clash against Emirates Lions.
The director of rugby added: “We had two injuries in effect, which were Shane with his ribs, which was always going to be a month at least. He’s got another couple of weeks on that and we’ll have a better picture after four weeks, whether it’ll be four or six weeks.
“Laney is very much similar with his shoulder, and we won’t see much of him for another fortnight. But he’s not likely to be too long after that.
“We also had the two concussion boys in Rey and Aled. They’re going through all the protocols as we speak, and as you know it’s a stage-by-stage approach.
“They’ve got to come through each stage and if, at any stage, they get symptoms it’ll push them back.
“So you never know if they’ll be fit until they’ve completed it all. We’ll have a better idea tomorrow.
“But as of now, both have come through unscathed but obviously need to come through tomorrow as well.
“We had a lot of bumps and bruises last time, but nothing that will stop them being a part of Saturday.”
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