PRESSING ISSUE
Wales star Jonathan Davies storms out of Autumn Internationals press briefing after All Blacks demolition
JONATHAN DAVIES stormed out of his post-match press conference - but Wales could be left in an even bigger grump on Monday when they find out the true extent of Alun Wyn Jones' shoulder injury.
Centre Davies stood in for crocked skipper Jones by fielding questions as the inquest into their record 54-16 home autumn internationals drubbing by the All Blacks began.
1
But stroppy Davies had enough after just one minute and 15 seconds.
That was half the time it took centurion fly-half Beauden Barrett to score the first of New Zealand's seven tries as they demolished Wayne Pivac's Six Nations champs.
Davies & Co could be left feeling even more irritable when second row and talisman Jones gets the results from his shoulder scan later.
Jones, who celebrated breaking Richie McCaw's 148 caps record for a single country, took just 21 days to complete his miracle Lions recovery from a dislocation of the same left shoulder this summer.
Though his chances of facing world champions South Africa again on Saturday are in the balance, despite boss Pivac's optimism.
Wales are also sweating on fly-half Dan Biggar and will be without back row Ross Moriarty - who appeared to fully dislocate one of his shoulders in the Kiwi humiliation.
Grumpy Davies said: "We worked extremely hard to try and get a result and when you don't get it, it does hurt.
"But we have another opportunity next week to put our wrongs to right. And that is what this group will want to show next week.
"We need to exit properly and not put pressure on ourselves.
"The way South Africa play, they want to put pressure on you, and for us it is about making sure we build and play in the right areas of the field."
Most read in Rugby Union
In contrast twice world-player-of-the-year and All Blacks fly-half Barrett, plus a whole host of Kiwi stars, sat down to talk about the first time Cardiff welcomed fans back since February 2020.
Scoring once in each half on his 100th cap, the 30-year-old added: “Dad got a keg of Guinness, and they’ve got a ham on.
"My family all went around and watched the game, so it’s a special time.
"There was a lot on my mind. I just wanted to play well and enjoy the moment because it was such a cool place to play my 100th.
“It was a very emotional week because of the support and love that has flooded in to my inbox from those who have been there since day one."
Wales head coach Wayne Pivac discusses the impact of injured and absent players on New Zealand clash
Topics