Scarlets head coach Dwayne Peel has confirmed that Scarlets and Wales centre Joe Roberts is set to have a protracted period on the sidelines following a knee injury.

Roberts suffered the injury whilst on Wales duty and will have an operation in the next two weeks with his long-term health in mind.

The injury will see Roberts miss Wales’ summer test against South Africa and subsequent tour of Australia, something which will be of a concern to national head coach Warren Gatland following the retirement of fellow outside centre George North.

“He’ll be out for this season, the summer, and into next I’d imagine,” said Peel.

“It’s a tough one for him, he’s one who’s had some bad luck with injury, to lose him for the next while is a tough one for us.

“For us, he’s one who’s developing into a leader here and we’re a better team when he’s in the group and he’s a good player, and one who’s growing in the team.”

Roberts has had to bide his time at the Scarlets behind the likes of Jonathan Davies and Scott Williams but had stamped his authority on the 13 shirt at the Llanelli based regions with great performances at the end of last season and this season.

This is Roberts’ third serious knee injury, having previously missed the start of the 22/23 season along with the 2019-20 season.

“He’s obviously disappointed, he feels like he’s made the step and he wants to keep continuing on this trajectory,” Peel added.

“He needs to get the operation done with a long-term view on it because you can go from game to game and week to week with an injury and then it’s hard work and tough.

“At some point you have to bite the bullet and get the operation done and come back a stronger, better player and that’s where his mindset is and where ours is too.

“He’s one who’s important to the future of the Scarlets. We need to make sure he comes back and is good to go for however many years to go as well.”

Roberts made his debut for Wales at Twickenham in a warm-up to the World Cup and was “unlucky” not to make the squad for the tournament according to Wales’ defence coach Mike Forshaw.

He was then given the opportunity to wear the 13 shirt in Wales’ home defeat to France, scoring a try, and is seen as a “really promising young 13 going forward” and with a left foot kicking option, giving Wales “a little bit of a different dimension with his kicking,” per Forshaw.

With Roberts injured and North having retired, who will likely line up at 13 for Wales in Australia?

With the retirement of George North, Roberts was seen as one of two obvious options to inherit the 13 shirt, the other being Cardiff’s Mason Grady, while some even muted the idea of Grady slotting in at 12 inside the Scarlets centre.

When starting, Grady has been used exclusively on the wing by Cardiff this season, though has slotted in from the bench and was very impressive in the Six Nations game against Italy.

Grady is the obvious option having played there in past but moving him from the 23 would leave Wales a bit threadbare on the wing.

Adams and Rio Dyer the only obvious wingers following the departure of Louis Rees-Zammit to the NFL.  Liam Williams might be available to fly over, while Tom Rogers has been consistently selected as an option for the future but sees himself as a 15 and not on the wing.

So are there any bespoke centres who could fill in at 13?

Owen Watkin comes to mind, having played there in Wales’ opening game against Scotland and is more than capable in playing at both 12 and 13, while Nick Tompkins has played there in the past but seems to only be seen as a 12 for Warren Gatland.

Louie Hennessey is an exciting prospect having shone at U20s level and the Bath centre might get a look-in, however fellow Wales U20s centre and captain Harri Ackerman has fractured his fibula and tibia and will be out for a long time.

Other options include Scarlets centres Jonny Williams and Eddie James along with Cardiff duo Ben Thomas and Willis Halaholo, all of whom are typically more comfortable in the 12 jersey, while Jonathan Davies could make a surprise return to the international scene, but that seems unlikely considering the attempts to introduce more youth into the national side.

Max Llewellyn at Gloucester hasn’t had much game time but has played 13 for Cardiff in the past, while Steff Hughes and Aneurin Owen at the Dragons haven’t managed to consistently showcase the form required this season.

One other option would be to bring Josh Adams or Owen Lane into the 13 jersey but it’s safe to say it didn’t quite work when Adams played there against Ireland in 2022, while that would simply add to Wales’ lack of depth on the wings.  

If you had been looking for Wales football heroes to take over from Gareth Bale, then Nathan Broadhead would probably have been low down your list.

Yet cometh the very late hour, cometh the young man in Croatia as Broadhead grabbed the equaliser to earn his country a 1-1 draw in their first qualifier for Euro 2024.

Aaron Ramsey hadn’t scored, Kieffer Moore had hardly had a kick, but when the ball was flicked on to the far post, Broadhead – a 24-year-old, who plays League One football with Ipswich – reacted like a veteran international striker to deliver a priceless point.

The question for Wales now is can they carry on the momentum by beating Latvia at home on Tuesday night.

After all, the Latvians are considered the weakest team in the group and any point gained unexpectedly in Croatia would be handed back immediately if Wales don’t get all three points at the Cardiff City Stadium.

In Saturday night’s game, Wales could well have gone further behind after they went 1-0 down in the first-half to a goal from Andrej Kramaric.

But what will have encouraged the 2,000 members of the Red Wall who made the trip to the city of Split – as well as those watching on TV back home – was the positive nature of the Welsh response.

Manager Rob Page sent on fresh legs in the form of Broadhead, Sorba Thomas, Wes Burns and Tom Bradshaw and their energy proved decisive as the Croatians tired.

Some of the Welsh fans pictured celebrating at the end were also supporters of Barry Town United and it was a memorable weekend for them.

Earlier on Saturday, their club had hammered Pontardawe Town, 5-0, to confirm themselves champions of the JD Cymru South.

It will means a quick return to the JD Cymru Premier for Barry, who were relegated last season but will now go back up after a dominant campaign in the second tier of Welsh domestic football.

Eye-opening achievement of the weekend should go to Wrexham, whose crowd of 9,511 for their match at home to Connah’s Quay Nomads was a record for a women’s fixture in Wales.

They won 2-1 at The Racecourse in the Genero Adran North, 24 hours after their men’s team had beaten York City, 3-0, to stay top of the National League and on course for automatic promotion back to the Football League.

In the Genero Adran Premier, Cardiff City Women clinched their first title for 10 years after overcoming The New Saints, 3-1.

It was a weekend when most of the rest of Welsh football put their feet up, because of the international matches.

Cardiff City and Swansea City were able to get some extra training done ahead of their crunch Welsh derby meeting in the Championship this weekend, while Newport County’s planned League Two fixture against Harrogate was postponed due to international call-ups.

In the JD Cymru Premier, The New Saints had already sewn up the league title, but anyone thinking they might relax was proved wrong as they hammered Cardiff Met, 7-1 at the weekend.

In the only other fixture, Penybont maintained their position in third place, even though they were held, 2-2, at home to Bala Town.