Cory Hill: Japan move will set lock up for life says Wales head coach Wayne Pivac

Cory Hill made his last Test start against Italy in the 2021 Six Nations match in Rome

Wales head coach Wayne Pivac says second-row Cory Hill had an offer he could not refuse from Japan that will set him up for life.

Hill, 29, was released for the summer Tests against Canada and Argentina after telling Cardiff Blues of his desire to join a team outside Wales.

This makes him ineligible for the national side.

“It’s life in rugby and these players sometimes get opportunities which come along once in a lifetime,” said Pivac.

Hill has won 32 caps but a move to a team outside Wales would render him ineligible to play for Pivac’s side under the nation’s 60-cap rule so he was replaced in the summer squad by Dragons’ Matthew Screech.

“I was aware Cory was having a look around in Japan and he came into my office in the morning and said that he had spoken to Dai Young (Cardiff Blues director of rugby) the evening before,” explained Pivac.

“He just said that there was an offer for him and his partner which was one they couldn’t refuse, that was going to set them up. That’s how it was explained to me. Here I am working on the other side of the world so I get it.

“I think he’s looked at his age and where he’s at in his career and made a decision on what’s best for the immediate people around him.

“I respect the fact he came in and told me, at which point we wished each other well and we made the replacement straightaway.

“Time was ticking and his new contract kicks off on the 1 July meant that he wasn’t going to be taking part in any of our matches.”

Pivac had allowed Jake Ball to remain in the Six Nations squad despite knowing the lock would leave Wales at the end of the season but explained this was a different situation.

With Ball having left and questions about whether Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones will make the next World Cup, Pivac accepts Hill’s departure is a blow.

“It is a blow to lose any player,” added Pivac.

“We are not the biggest rugby population in the world so when you have a guy on 30-odd Tests, who has done the ground work and is at that age where as a second-row he is maturing well, it means he will be missed.

“Adam Beard is coming in from the Six Nations and backing that up and training well. He is a frontline player for us at the moment.

“Will Rowlands will come into the Dragons and we won’t have that going off to the Premiership clubs in a Six Nations, which was hard on him last time round. We will see big improvements from him.

“We will have a good look at Ben Carter and Matthew Screech in this campaign and not forgetting Seb Davies.”

Cory Hill is congratulate by Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones after scoring a try in the 2021 Triple Crown win against England

Cardiff Blues had re-signed Hill “on a long-term deal” in June 2020 but that contract was no longer valid after players took 25% wage cuts last summer because of Covid-19.

Hill is understood to have not signed up to the initial wage cut which made him able to look elsewhere. Pivac says he is confident other players will not follow in Hill’s footsteps and leave for Japan.

“We have an understanding of where the boys are contractually and we are in a pretty good position I think of having everybody signed up we are looking at the World Cup,” added Pivac.

“It is not just Wales. Everybody in the world is affected by this from time to time. I only know too well coming from New Zealand the amount of players that have left the environment to set themselves up.

“It is just part and parcel of the business and we have to make sure we are on top of where players are contractually and make sure we don’t lose too many this way.”

Pivac believes the 60-cap rule is still working by pointing to the players who have returned to play for regions in Wales.

He also highlighted how English-based club players were not eligible for some training camps and matches outside World Rugby’s international window like the New Zealand game in late October at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium.

Wayne Pivac: Wales head coach welcomes north Wales preparation for summer series

“It is a rule in place we work towards,” said Pivac.

“It is working because you see the amount of players that are coming back and playing in Wales. We see it at the coalface when you are losing half a dozen players for an All Blacks test or fallow weeks in Six Nations.

“This week we don’t have the boys from the English clubs even though they have finished their competitions. We just go along with that ruling. The players know when they sign contracts to play in England that this is going to happen.

“Some of them will be missing an opportunity to play against the All Blacks later in the year as well.”

Wales will play Canada and Argentina twice in front of 8,200 supporters at the Principality Stadium in July with tickets going on sale on 25 June.

Pivac has an injury concern over Exeter prop Tomas Francis who has a back problem.