Wayne Pivac explains reason behind shock call-up as doomsday injury concern emerges

Wales boss Wayne Pivac has explained the reasoning behind a shock call-up for uncapped 21-year-old Harri O’Connor.

The young Scarlets prop, who has just nine games for the region under his belt, has joined up with the national squad before they depart for South Africa later this week.

A squad of 34 will now head to face the world champions in their own back yard after an injury concern over starting tight-head Tomas Francis emerged. Pivac moved to play down their worries over Francis but losing the 64-cap veteran is almost unthinkable.

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With Leon Brown already out of the tour through injury, Francis going down would leave Pivac with Dillon Lewis and uncapped deputies Sam Wainwright and O’Connor as his only fit tight-heads to take on the most fearsome pack in world rugby.

It’s a scenario that could derail Wales’ chances, so any suggestion of an injury to the Ospreys man will send shivers down the spine of Welsh supporters.

“Tomas Francis has just picked up a niggle in his back. It’s been a bit of a problem for him on and off in the season,” said Pivac.

“We are just treating that with care so it’s just a precautionary measure really to make sure we have the numbers in training and we can prepare as we need to.”

Pushed on Francis’ fitness for the opening Test on July 2 in Pretoria, Pivac said: “We expect him to be fully fit for the first Test but it’s just a precaution to make sure we have the numbers we need to get through.”

Pivac insists O’Connor has been on Wales’ radar as a promising young player who is highly thought of among the coaching staff at Parc y Scarlets.

But there are legitimate concerns over his readiness for international rugby, against the