Wales: Wayne Pivac backs Christ Tshiunza to be ‘big player for the future’ after watching his progress

Wales head coach Wayne Pivac has backed Exeter youngster Christ Tshiunza for a bright future as prepares his side for the Autumn Nations Series.

Tshiunza will be eager to press his case for a long-term spot in the squad, which is even more tantalising for players with a World Cup fast approaching.

And it seems the Chiefs back-row is making all the right noises with Pivac, who lauded the 20-year-old as “a big player for the future” in a Wales shirt.

Made his Wales debut against Fiji

Tshiunza made his Test bow against Fiji last year and has continued to impress for Exeter in the Premiership this season, which hasn’t gone unnoticed.

“People like Christ we’ve had in the environment before and he’s done well coming off the bench in two Tests,” Pivac said about the forward prospect.

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“He has then gone and built on that for his club and we know a lot more about him.

“I was down in Exeter last week and we have a lot of dialogue with the English coaches who are coaching our players.

“He is making great progress at club level, they’ve got a great setup there, a great coaching team, and he is learning a lot. You can see that in his game.

“Christ is a lot more confident than when he first came in here. He is really maturing and developing nicely.

“He is going to be a big player for the future, definitely.”

New Zealand first up for Wales

Wales kick off their Autumn Nations Series fixtures against New Zealand on November 5 and Tshiunza will be pushing hard for a spot in the matchday 23.

Pivac’s charges will then tackle Argentina, Georgia and Australia and it is clear that Tshiunza and other youngsters’ progress has pleased the head coach.

“It’s just great to see the development and the evolving of these players,” Pivac said.

“It bodes well, not only for the World Cup next year – hopefully, we get a great pool of players without too many injuries for that – but looking through to 2027, there is a core of young guys there to take the team forward.

“What we have to do is learn from past World Cups and make sure we have as much depth as we possibly can.

“We have done that over the last three years, and now it is about trying to settle on a squad.”

Wales will head into the autumn with a new captain at the helm after Justin Tipuric was named skipper in the absence of the injured fly-half Dan Biggar.

While at completely the opposite end of the career spectrum to Tshiunza, Tipuric is someone who Pivac is equally excited about after a tough run of luck.

Captaincy role for Justin Tipuric

“Justin has, like a number of players, suffered a serious injury in the last 18 months and done exceptionally well to work hard to get back to this level of the game,” Pivac said.

“I admire those players that get through those dark times, and when they come out the other side they are generally a lot stronger for it.

“He is, in a way, fortunate he is at a stage in his career where he understands and knows these things can happen.

“He has probably had a few injuries before, but that was probably a particularly nasty one. I am just pleased to have him back available for Wales.”