RHYS Priestland is being backed by one of England's top coaches to make a record-breaking start against New Zealand on Saturday.
Should Wales opt to reintroduce Gareth Anscombe from the bench, Priestland will be the third veteran fly-half to come out of the international wilderness, hot on the heels of Morne Steyn and Quade Cooper.
At 34, Priestland would be the oldest to reclaim the revered No.10 jersey, marginally older than Jonathan Davies 25 years ago.
Mike Ford, the former England and Lions defence coach who signed Priestland for Bath from Scarlets in 2015, says: “Gareth (Anscombe) has many qualities but I think Rhys is better at managing a game, putting the ball in the right areas at the right times.''
Record-breaker Priestland ‘certainly good enough'
Ford tells The Rugby Paper. “With Gareth having been out for such a long time, I'd be inclined to start with Rhys.
“I certainly don't think he's too old at 34 and there's no doubt he's still good enough. Watching him in the Premiership last season, it looked to me that once he made the decision to sign for Cardiff, he started to play some great football.''
Last season Priestland broke all Premiership records for the most consecutive goals without missing, surpassing Jonny Wilkinson's 28 and raising the total; by more than 50 per cent to 44.
“Rhys is a confidence player who wants coaches to believe in him and trust him. He needs to feel secure and loved to be at his best,'' says Ford. “Breaking that Premiership record tells you everything about his place-kicking.
“We signed him at Bath on the basis that his international days were over. He was down in the dumps about his career with Wales and wanted to make a clean start. I knew he'd been getting a bit of stick.''
The unavoidable absence of Dan Biggar and Callum Sheedy on Premiership duty presents Priestland with a golden opportunity to start where he left off four years ago, against the All Blacks in Cardiff.
During that time he fell foul of the WRU rule barring non-Welsh based players with fewer than 60 caps from selection. Head coach Wayne Pivac wanted to pick Priestland during the 2020 Six Nations but the WRU's Professional Game Board refused to make their exiled 50-cap fly-half an exception to the rule. They have since done so in the case of another Welsh exile, Wasps flanker Thomas Young.
