S pring has barely sprung but in international rugby, thoughts are already turning to summer. With the season ending for the Welsh regions in April, Warren Gatland has named his provisional squad for the World Cup.
He did so on Monday, 132 days before Wales’s first match – Steve Borthwick has spent less time as England head coach – but as the end of the season run-in looms into view in Europe, so too does the World Cup over its shoulder.
Gatland’s squad announcement can be seen as the start of Wales’s campaign and if they are first out of the blocks, his European counterparts will all be finessing their final plans.
These teams are about to enter the period that head coaches repeatedly remind us are so important because they afford uninterrupted access to players.