Tommy Reffell: Wales resist picking England-qualified flanker

Leicester flanker Tommy Reffell has scored three tries in 19 appearances this season

Wales head coach Wayne Pivac says he will not pick Leicester flanker Tommy Reffell just to stop him being selected for England.

The former Wales Under-20s captain qualifies for England through residency after joining Leicester aged 15.

Reffell, 22, has enjoyed a good season with Leicester but has not been chosen in Wales’ summer squad.

“We’re not going to select players to stop them playing for another country,” said Pivac.

“I don’t think that’s the right thing to do – to get a guy capped and then not use him.

“It’s no different to other situations where there are dual opportunities. You’ve got to select on what you think is the right mix at the time.”

England head coach Eddie Jones will name his squad later this week for their summer series.

Reffell was born in Bridgend and came through the Ospreys age-group set-up before moving to Leicester seven years ago. He went on to captain Wales at Under-18 level and then in the Under-20s at the Junior World Cup in 2018.

Reffell is competing in a pecking order that is arguably Wales most competitive position, with first-choice Justin Tipuric touring with the British and Irish Lions this summer.

James Botham and Taine Basham are the number seven specialists selected for the three-match series against Canada and Argentina with Josh Navidi covering across the back row.

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This means uncapped players like Reffell, Jac Morgan and Bristol’s Dan Thomas have not been able to force their way into Pivac’s plans yet.

Other options include injured Scarlets duo James Davies and Josh Macleod, Wasps’ Thomas Young, who is currently ineligible because of Wales’ 60-cap rule, and Dragons back-rower Ollie Griffiths.

“I’d like to select every young Welsh rugby player and make their dream come true but seven is a position where we have a lot of good young talent,” added Pivac.

“James Botham and Taine Basham have both been in the squad before and have impressed us in our training sessions. Then we’ve got Jac (Morgan) and Tommy.

“I had a chat with Dan when I was down with Bristol. He is on our Exiles list where we get their games and pull them apart each week.”

Pivac says players involved with the Welsh regions will be preferred in close calls.

“It’s which ones to leave out and at the moment it’s the ones playing in Wales which have an advantage,” added Pivac.

“We’re comfortable with the ones we’ve selected as they’ve got runs on the board in our environment.

“At the moment, we think these boys deserve their places and others can probably work out their place in the pecking order and they’re not too far off.

“We’ve gone with the two we have and Josh Navidi is ultimately a seven who can play six and eight and do it very well. We think we’re well stocked at seven with Tips (Tipuric) to come back into the fold later on.”