Hawkins Says Missing 2023 World Cup Has Fuelled Push for Australia
Wales centre Joe Hawkins says missing the last World Cup has made him more determined to play at the next one, in Australia, which is about 12 months away.
Hawkins, 24, plays in midfield, the pair of backs who sit between the forwards and the wings. He moved from the Ospreys to Exeter in 2023. That move meant trouble for his Wales career. Welsh rugby's Professional Rugby Board ruled him ineligible under the 25-cap rule.
The rule is simple to explain but hard to live with. A player with fewer than 25 caps, meaning international appearances, cannot be picked for Wales unless he is playing for a Welsh club. Hawkins had fewer than 25 caps and was not with one, so he was out. He missed the 2023 World Cup in France as a result.
His route back came through Scarlets, a Welsh region, and he has since returned to the Wales squad. BBC Sport reports that he now sees the next tournament as a goal worth chasing hard.
Wales have a busy run ahead before that tournament. They must play a minimum of 12 matches, starting with a Nations Championship opener against Japan in Cardiff. The Nations Championship is a annual series of international games between the top northern hemisphere and southern hemisphere teams, and it gives coaches a steady stream of matches to test players.
Head coach Steve Tandy has been in charge since September 2025. Wales have had some churn in midfield during that time. Tandy has picked five different starting midfield partnerships in 13 games, which means few pairings have had a long run together.
Hawkins has been one of the more consistent names in that shuffle. He and Eddie James have started seven games together as Wales' centre pair, including a win over the Barbarians in an uncapped fixture. Uncapped matches do not count towards a player's cap total, so that game was a trial rather than a formal Test.
For Wales fans, the picture is clear enough. A settled midfield is the kind of thing that helps a side win close games, and Hawkins has been part of the partnership that has been trusted most often. Whether he gets a long run of starts before the World Cup is a call only Tandy can make.
What stands out most is the tone of Hawkins' own words. He does not talk about the past with anger. He talks about it as a reason to push harder, and he has a year or so to turn that determination into a World Cup place.
