{"id":4850,"date":"2023-01-19T20:48:47","date_gmt":"2023-01-19T20:48:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/six-nations-2023-sam-warburton-expects-christ-tshiunza-impact-for-wales\/"},"modified":"2023-01-19T20:48:48","modified_gmt":"2023-01-19T20:48:48","slug":"six-nations-2023-sam-warburton-expects-christ-tshiunza-impact-for-wales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/six-nations-2023-sam-warburton-expects-christ-tshiunza-impact-for-wales\/","title":{"rendered":"Six Nations 2023: Sam Warburton expects Christ Tshiunza impact for Wales"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Tshiunza helped Wales Under-20s to finish second to South Africa in the 2022 Summer Six Nations tournament<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ex-Wales captain Sam Warburton expects Exeter’s Christ Tshiunza to make an impact for coach Warren Gatland’s side in the forthcoming Six Nations.<\/span><\/p>\n

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With Justin Tipuric tipped to be open-side and Taulupe Faletau number eight, Tshiunza’s blind-side rivals seem to be Jac Morgan and Aaron Wainwright.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Leicester open-side flanker Tommy Reffell is also in the mix.<\/span><\/p>\n

“It could be the most athletic back row we’ve picked in a squad for a long time,” said Warburton.<\/span><\/p>\n

“You look at Tshiunza, Wainwright, Morgan, Reffell, Tipuric and Faletau – proven athlete after proven athlete after proven athlete.”<\/span><\/p>\n

British and Irish Lions Tipuric and Faletau are established Wales stars while Morgan and Reffell have been highly impressive in their ascendency to international honours.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wainwright is back after falling out of favour during the reign of Gatland’s predecessor Wayne Pivac.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the meantime, 21-year-old <\/span>Tshiunza’s Test progress was halted by a hamstring injury<\/span><\/a> suffered as Wales prepared for the 2022 Six Nations.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, he can now challenge for a 2023 World Cup spot, boosted by his ability to also play in the second row.<\/span><\/p>\n

“He plays wide a lot at Exeter, which suits Wales’ system when they put a hooker or a back-rower in their 15-metre channel. He is very comfortable with ball in hand,” said Warburton.<\/span><\/p>\n

“He is not shy to dip in at breakdown defence as well and he is kind of ticking all the boxes at the minute. I am a big fan.<\/span><\/p>\n

“He wears seven at Exeter, but to me he looks like a blind-side. He does a bit of everything, which is nice.”<\/span><\/p>\n

At 6ft 6in and over 17 stone, Tshiunza is also a more imposing presence than the rest of Wales’ flanker options.<\/span><\/p>\n

Warburton added: “His line-out credentials are one big bonus, and weight is another.<\/span><\/p>\n

“With Tshiunza at six, who is 115kg, it makes a world of difference to a scrum. I am sure from a set-piece perspective there is a massive advantage there.<\/span><\/p>\n

“For example, if you are playing South Africa, I think you are going to pick a different back row.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I think you would go with Tshiunza at six against South Africa, who are going to come with a strong line-out and a strong set-piece game.<\/span><\/p>\n

“So I think it’s horses for courses and it gives you a little bit of flexibility over who you pick. I wouldn’t say Morgan and Tipuric is the only (flanker) combination throughout the whole Six Nations or World Cup.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I think there is definitely a time and a place where you might chop and change.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Warburton added: “I think Justin is someone who certainly plays, given his experience and his leadership credentials. I think Jac Morgan is in the front-running as well and Taulupe Faletau is nailed on for number eight.<\/span><\/p>\n

“That is what I see as the starting trio, but I think we will see Tshiunza play at six at some point and I think Wainwright will get a run, whether he comes off the bench or plays in that six-eight hybrid role.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I think ‘Gats’ will want him to get some more international rugby under his belt because he could be a big player for Wales, not just for now but beyond 2023 as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

“We’ve got enough depth there now. As long as those guys are used and exposed to international rugby over the next few months then the back-row will be in a good place moving forward.”<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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Tshiunza helped Wales Under-20s to finish second to South Africa in the 2022 Summer Six Nations tournament Ex-Wales captain Sam Warburton expects Exeter’s Christ Tshiunza to make an impact for coach Warren Gatland’s side in the forthcoming Six Nations. With Justin Tipuric tipped to be open-side and Taulupe Faletau number eight, Tshiunza’s blind-side rivals seem […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4851,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4850"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4850"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4850\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4852,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4850\/revisions\/4852"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kede.com.br\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}