Have Wales got their midfield partnership right?

July 17, 2026 No Comments

Have Wales got their midfield partnership right?Image source, Huw Evans Picture AgencyImage caption, Eddie James, Max Llewellyn, Ben Thomas and Joe Hawkins have made Wales starts in Steve Tandy’s first season in chargeByChris KirwanBBC Sport WalesPublished8 minutes agoAfter 12 games in charge, Wales head coach Steve Tandy goes back to his starting point with Ben Thomas and Max Llewellyn in midfield for Saturday’s Nations Championship fixture encounter with South Africa.The head coach has selected five different starting centre partnerships since taking the reins last summer.It seemed that he had settled on the Scarlets combination of Joe Hawkins and Eddie James after they had a seven-game run in the side.But Wales finish 2025-26 with the pairing that Tandy plumped for in his first two games in charge, the Thomas-Llewellyn axis getting another crack against the strong-running Springboks in Durban.

Wales’ starting centre partnerships under Tandy

Wales’ starting centre partnerships under Tandy

Joe Hawkins and Eddie James – 7 (France, Scotland, Ireland, Italy, Barbarians, Fiji, Argentina)
Ben Thomas and Max Llewellyn – 2 (Argentina, Japan)
Joe Hawkins and Max Llewellyn – 1 (New Zealand)
Joe Hawkins and Joe Roberts – 1 (South Africa)
Ben Thomas and Eddie James – 1 (England)

‘The centre partnership probably hasn’t fired’

Hawkins and James – who grasped his chance when Llewellyn was injured for the Six Nations – joined forces against France and have featured since.

But Wales have been reliant on their driving line-out in attack and have endured some tough times in defence against Fiji and Argentina in the first two rounds of the Nations Championship, with 38 clean breaks conceded.

“The centre partnership probably hasn’t fired as we hoped it would after the promise shown at the end of the Six Nations,” stated former Wales and Lions centre Jonathan Davies on Scrum V The Warm Up.

“There were a few missed tackles and there have been gaps in defence. Teams have been able to gain ground on us quite easily.”

Nations Championship: South Africa v Wales

Saturday, 18 July (16:40 BST)

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Cardiff’s Thomas and Gloucester’s Llewellyn joined forces for the first two fixtures of Tandy’s reign against Argentina and Japan in Cardiff.

Opportunity knocks in the final game of 2025-26 against a Springboks pairing of Jesse Kriel and Damian de Allende, with Davies wondering whether it is a chance missed to look at some bulk.

“Ben and Max were the preferred centre partnership way back last November and get an opportunity,” he stated.

“Do I think it’s the right choice? I don’t. I would have liked to see Eddie move to 12 and play Max at 13.

“Eddie’s best position is 12 and he has ball-playing ability that he hasn’t shown a lot of in his first few caps for Wales. Max is another physical presence with a bit more experience to stay at 13.”

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Tandy has the casting vote in selection meetings but the attack is shaped by Matt Sherratt, who former Wales fly-half Gareth Anscombe worked under at Cardiff.

“Matt Sherratt likes that second ball-player at 12,” stated Anscombe, also on Scrum V The Warm Up. “At the moment Wales are lacking a bit of go-forward.

“It’s nice to run connected shape and it can look good in training, but at the minute the attack is struggling to get forward and is spending a lot of time zig-zagging between the 15-metre lines.

“If you are not winning the middle part of the field and getting gain line, those edges on the side never open up.”

If Wales were to opt for a different 12, Anscombe believes they can still have another distributor to help out the fly-half.

He stated: “There no reason that Blair Murray at full-back can’t become a second ball player – look at the All Blacks with Ruben Love [at 10] and Damian McKenzie [at 15].”

Another change at 10

Dan Edwards in Wales' red kit — Image caption,

Dan Edwards signed a new Ospreys contract in January

Tandy has changed his centres and also rotates his fly-half, with Dan Edwards coming back in after Sam Costelow got a crack in Argentina.

Ospreys’ Edwards has started 10 of 12 internationals played this season, with Scarlets’ Costelow impressing until injured against Scotland and then facing the Pumas.

Last week’s starter drops out of the matchday 23 and centre Hawkins will be the cover at Kings Park.

“I feel a bit sensitive towards the way that 10s are treated because I played a lot of my career there,” stated Anscombe.

“The one thing that they need to be careful about is chopping and changing. With 10s, regardless of how they play, there are times when you need to give them three or four games in a row.

“A 10’s job isn’t just about effort and attitude, so much is about decision-making and being accurate within that.

“When you keep chopping and changing it’s really tough to get a feel for that. You need time in the saddle to be making those decisions at the line constantly.”

Wales finish their season with Edwards, Thomas and Llewellyn at 10-12-13 and Tandy has a break until the selection headaches return in November.