Patience pays off for Wales' unsung prop star Assiratti

LIKE so many Welshmen capped after a certain point, Keiron Assiratti’s Test career to date has largely been filled with defeats.

- BEN JAMES Sports Writer [e-mail]

made a big impact for Wales this autumn

It had all started promisingly enough, with his Test debut against England back in August 2023 coinciding with a victory in Cardiff. For a while though, that was as good as it would get.

Having missed out on selection for the 2023 World Cup in France - a tournament that, given how the last two years panned out, increasingly feels like the good ol’ days - his first full season would bring a few starts, but no second victory.

His second season saw him fall a little in the pecking order behind Archie Griffin, Henry Thomas and WillGriff John - with all his Wales appearances last autumn and in this year’s Six Nations coming from the bench.

Thirteen months and seven cameos off the bench separated his sixth start for Wales and his seventh.

Both were tough ones. The sixth saw him forced off injured during the first half of the Twickenham Test against South Africa last summer.

The seventh saw him exposed to the heat in Kitakyushu against Japan this July, resulting in him missing the win in Kobe the following weekend.