Josh Adams released from Wales camp to start for Cardiff against Ospreys
Wales wing Josh Adams will start for Cardiff against Ospreys at St Helen's in the United Rugby Championship, after being released from the national squad's camp. The URC is the league that pits club sides from Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Italy and South Africa against each other.
Adams, 31, is the only player from a Welsh region in Steve Tandy's Wales squad to be sent out for game time before the Nations Championship, the autumn international competition. A wing is one of the two widest players on the field, usually the quickest runners, and their job is to finish moves out wide. BBC Sport reported the move.
His route back has been a gradual one. Adams returned from a hamstring injury as a replacement for Cardiff at Northampton, and then started in their defeat by the Sharks at Cardiff Arms Park.
Cardiff are without six other members of the Wales squad for the trip to Swansea. Ospreys are missing four players of their own. Both sides have had to rebuild their teams around the players who are available.
Cardiff's front five has changed significantly. Lock Josh McNally will captain the side in the absence of hooker Liam Belcher. Locks are the tall forwards who jump for the ball at lineouts, the set-piece where players are lifted to catch a throw-in. McNally is the only player to keep his place in Cardiff's starting pack from the Sharks game.
Cardiff's back row, the three forwards who work at the breakdown and in the loose, will also look different. Wales players Alex Mann, James Botham and Taine Basham are all unavailable. Alun Lawrence is back at number eight, the back-rower who controls the ball at the back of the scrum. It is his first appearance of the season after returning from injury.
Ospreys have a link with Cardiff in their squad. Fly-half Harri Wilde, who is on loan to Ospreys from Cardiff, is on the replacements bench. The fly-half runs the attack and often does the kicking, so a changed pivot can shift a game's rhythm.
For Cardiff, the match is a chance to respond after the Sharks defeat. For Adams, it is a test of match fitness after a hamstring problem, with the Nations Championship approaching. How quickly he is back to his best may matter as much to Tandy as the result does to the table.
