Wales will be caught out if Carre steps up

Rhys Carre’s imminent exit from the Arms Park comes at the end of a season when Wales steadfastly ignored him while picking 11 other props en route to their Six Nations whitewash.

Cardiff‘s loosehead, who doubles up in the most un-loosehead position of being the club’s top scorer with eight tries, has been persona non grata on the international front since Warren Gatland removed him from the World Cup squad for ‘failing to meet individual performance targets’.

Saracens‘ re-signing of Carre strengthens the suspicion of a player without honour in his own land. “As I’ve got better for my club, I’ve got looked at less from an international perspective,” he says. “I can’t say exactly how and why. I’ve sort of stalled … I haven’t really gone anywhere.”

Now that he is about to go somewhere, back to a club for whom he made eight appearances five seasons ago, the move has ironic consequences. Should Carre start tearing it up in the Premiership next season and Wales do a volte face, they won’t be able to touch him.

In that event it won’t be through any failure to meet any targets but because of the WRU’s own rule putting formerly home-based players employed elsewhere with fewer than 25 caps out of bounds for Test matches.

Carre, five short on that count, last started for Wales three seasons ago, against Fiji in November 2021. Should his Sarries return turn out to be the making of him, Wales will be caught in a trap of their own making.