Warren Gatland will want to put the retirements of Alun Wyn Jones and Justin Tipuric behind him as the France Rugby World Cup approaches and preparations get underway. Rugby supporters can book Wales Rugby World Cup Tickets on our website at exclusively discounted prices.

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It’s fair to say that Welsh rugby was shocked when Alun Wyn Jones and Justin Tipuric announced their retirements just four months before the Rugby World Cup 2023.

The seismic 80 minutes that shook the Wale

When Justin Tipuric declared that he was retiring from international rugby through his agent at Win Sports Management, the Welsh team’s preparations for the France Rugby World Cup were put on hold. The most capped rugby player in history.

Alun Wyn Jones followed Tipuric’s example and announced his retirement from international competition just four months before the Rugby World Cup 2023. This means that Wales will lose a combined total of 265 international caps, which is a significant setback to their chances of participating in the Rugby World Cup.

 Moreover, the announcement’s timing is odd. Jones has been a fantastic asset to Welsh rugby, but he decided to give it one last push to qualify for the Rugby World Cup. To make sure the Swansea player was in the optimum condition for the competition, he took care of him.

Even more of a shocker is that Tipuric continues to be one of rugby’s top openside flankers despite his performances for his nation rarely falling below an eighth out of 10.

Options in front of Gatland

The most crucial information in the phrases Rugby World Cup 2023, Jones, Tipuric, Cory Hill, and Tommy Reffell is that Warren Gatland has an adequate amount of depth at loose-forward with Jac Morgan and Tommy Reffell already having played in Test matches and only getting better.

This is because the previous year was terrible for regional rugby players in Wales, including those out of the contract due to a contractual freeze and the harshness of Wales’ Pre-Rugby World Cup training camps in Switzerland and Turkey. There is no certainty that Jones and Tipuric would have made Gatland’s strongest 23 when Reffell and Morgan are in the back row, even if everyone is healthy.

Jones and Tipuric have been integral parts of some of Wales’ greatest successes ever. Fans will surely miss witnessing two of Welsh rugby’s finest players perform while wearing the red of Wales, but everything wonderful has to end eventually.

They may properly look back on their professional lives with great pride and will be recognised among the top echelon of Wales internationals, at least in the current period. But leaving the eulogies aside, what does this truly imply for Warren Gatland, whose Wales team will be assembling soon to begin practising for the France Rugby World Cup?

How can he overcome the huge gaps in the RWC squad?

Gatland is losing a significant amount of valuable experience considering that the two have combined to win an incredible 265 international caps. Although Jones and Tipuric are beyond their prime, their level of leadership and expertise could have a significant impact on the playing group.

It would have benefited from having teammates in the locker room who have already accomplished what they were there to do. Given that Jones and Tipuric would have been candidates for sporting the captain’s armband in France, Gatland now has two fewer alternatives.

However, you can’t choose a player only based on experience, and there is a good case to be made that Jones wouldn’t have been on the Rugby World Cup matchday 23 in the first place. The storyline over the previous four years has been on making sure Jones has one final farewell performance in France this autumn. You can book your Rugby World Cup Semi Finals Tickets.

But at 37 years old, time is now finally catching up with the legendary Wales player. Jones is still a very excellent player, but he can no longer be counted on to start every game for Wales, which wouldn’t have been the best for team togetherness.

The best all-around second row in Wales is still the nation’s most capped player in rugby history, but it seems sensible that, at his advanced age, he would find it challenging to compete at a high level throughout the competition.

The RWC Wales team needs urgent improvement

The tight five was one element that Gatland noted as needing urgent improvement following a poor Six Nations campaign in which Wales placed fifth. Wales was physically outmatched too frequently during the autumn international matches and the Six Nations last year, which prevented them from establishing a footing in the game.

Gatland’s strategy has historically depended heavily on winning the collisions, so Wales will only find it possible to compete if they achieve parity this autumn. Wales’ front five must be far more agile and fit compared to how they have been over the past few years.

Will Rowlands’s comeback is a huge boost for Gatland, and the lock, who is headed to Racing 92, is nearly certain to start the France Rugby World Cup opener versus Fiji in Bordeaux. Gatland also has a lot of respect for Exeter Chiefs rookie Dafydd Jenkins and Ospreys mainstay Adam Beard, who does a lot of hidden work that is undervalued by the general public.

However, Cory Hill’s return from his two-year exile in Japan might have been the icing on the cake for Jones. Hill, a former Cardiff star who possesses the ideal blend of physicality and athleticism as well as being another natural leader, is the closest player Wales has to Jones in terms of playing style.

Jenkins has a good chance of being included in the Rugby World Cup final roster, while Gatland is expected to start Beard, Rowlands, and Hill on the bench. In that manner, Alun Wyn’s loss will be made up and probably would have been, considering the match-day 23. For more about Rugby World Cup Final Tickets.

Wales lost the Tipuric

For Gatland, the loss of the astonishingly talented Tipuric is more problematic. Tipuric has been outstanding for the Ospreys and Wales this season and is still at the top of his game. Wales may have greater depth at openside flanker than any other nation in the northern hemisphere, but no one compares to Tipuric’s all-around excellence.

Tipuric puts everything together, whether it be his skill in the lineout, class in the wide channels, or his extraordinary defensive skills. Jac Morgan and Tommy Reffell are more effective at the breakdown in terms of forcing turnovers and slowing down the opposition’s ball, but Tipuric is even stronger at earning turnovers.

Other substitutes for Tipuric

Not to mention that Josh Navidi, a former Cardiff star who many experts say has been the most significant Wales player over the previous four or five years, has left Gatland due to his retirement. Ross Moriarty joined the struggling French team Brive and voluntarily withdrew from consideration for selection.

That is a significant amount of back-row experience and expertise to lose, and Gatland undoubtedly would have wanted a unit that was more settled before the Rugby World Cup 2023. Due to Tipuric’s absence, the most likely back-row trio might very well include Dan Lydiate at number six, Jac Morgan at number seven, and Taulupe Faletau at number eight.

Gatland could just as easily choose the athleticism of Christ Tshiunza. Although the Exeter player is still developing, it would be foolish to rule out underappreciated Scarlets back-rowers Josh Macleod or Taine Basham. Regardless of being 35.

Lydiate demonstrated he continues to have it in him with a sequence of obstinate performances in South Africa last summer. Gatland has 52 players in his international France Rugby World Cup training squad, so he may believe he doesn’t need to bring in any replacements.

However, in-form Cardiff midfielder Thomas Young will be eagerly anticipating his call. As a result, Tipuric and Alun Wyn will be omitted, as you might expect, but Gatland might believe he has suitable replacements to act as insurance. The position of captain is still open for grabs. Simply put, the coach now has two fewer alternatives than Alun Wyn and Tipuric have left.

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