Steve Tandy is trying to bridge one of Wales' biggest gaps as next month critical

Having started this World Cup cycle, albeit briefly, as Gareth Davies' deputy, Tomos Williams has dominated the Welsh nine jersey in the past three years.

In that 2024 Six Nations, after coming off the bench in that first match, Williams averaged 64 minutes in the starting jersey. In the 17 starts since - when Williams has been the obvious first-choice when fit and available - the average has risen to around 73 minutes.

On six occasions, the Welsh coach hasn't seen fit to put on a replacement - including four times in Steve Tandy's first 12 Tests.

This is all to say that Wales, at the moment, are heavily reliant on the 75-cap Saracens scrum-half.

Even more so now that Kieran Hardy is facing months on the sidelines. With 32 caps, Hardy was easily the most experienced alternative to Williams at Tandy's disposal - short of convincing the evergreen Davies to come out of Test retirement.

In his autumn squad, Tandy has two fairly inexperienced scrum-halves - with at least one bound to get some exposure next month following Hardy's injury.

Ospreys' Reuben Morgan-Williams has just three caps to his name - playing 55 minutes of Test rugby to date - while Dragons' Che Hope is uncapped.

For the next campaign at least, and maybe further down the line heading into next year's World Cup, these are the options. The question now is how Tandy manages such a sizable gap in experience from his front-line star to the rest.

In the case of Morgan-Williams, it's not like he's a greenhorn scrum-half in every regard. At 28, he's been around the club game long enough - with over 100 appearances for the Ospreys under his belt.

Those at the club believe he's ready to make that step up to the Test game on a more regular level.

"He's definitely earned the opportunity," said Ospreys head coach Mark Jones after his two-try display against the Dragons last Saturday. "I love how honest he is around his work and he always wants to get better.

"He is an Osprey through and through, a Neath boy who loves the badge, loves coming to work and is so consistent. He's got that sort of dour face and you never know if he's excited or annoyed! But he is always the same and consistent.

"Tomos is locked in at number one with Wales at the moment but Reubs has done a class job for us.

"If he is called upon by Wales then he will do an awesome job. I couldn't think of a better guy to be in that squad to help Wales."

As for Hope, the 23-year-old looked like a likely summer tourist last season, after a strong run of form. A hamstring injury cut his campaign short, but he's returned to form this season.

The lively half-back - who has been compared to both Williams and Mike Phillips in recent months - is certainly one for the future, having only just made 30 senior appearances.

Recently, Dragons defence coach Dale MacLeod urged caution over pushing the exciting scrum-half into the Test arena too soon.

"Che is quick, exciting and can turn nothing into something," said MacLeod. "He is a great support runner and is starting to become a much better defensive player.

"He is growing his game nicely and with all younger boys coming through you need to have a blend by giving opportunities without throwing them in the deep end.

"Che will only grown and get better because he is still a young man and I am looking forward to him getting some unhindered time in the saddle."

Obviously, the easiest way for Wales and Tandy to accelerate growth, as they would put it, in the scrum-half stocks is for Morgan-Williams and Hope to get minutes over the next month.

But, with Wales still in desperate need of results and relying on Williams for virtually the full 80, that's not always realistic.

As such, things like alignment camps are vitally important. Already, Wales' coaches have been quick to point out the work new kicking coach Alex Davies has done with the nines building up to this autumn, running camps specifically with the scrum-halves.

There's a wider sense that, after a year of Tandy, things like the tactical language in camp is starting to become more fluent amongst the playing group - with less need for it to be drilled in to the players by coaches.

That's surely a result of the sheer number of alignment camps and workshops Tandy has implemented over the last 12 months.

"I think the camps and bringing the nines in is just them getting used to me and how I coach and what the expectations and standards I'm driving in terms of the skill set," said Davies this week. "The basics: the kick accuracy, the passing.

"So it's really nice to get that alignment straight off the bat and know that I'm tracking their games, I give them feedback after most games, so hopefully they'll see consistency in their own performances.

"I'm on hand whenever they ever need to reach me. They send clips, bits of the games. I always catch up with the nines after their games as well.

"I think those camps are probably like a standout - I don't know if standout's the right word, but it's our super strength in Wales that we have the ability to do that.

"Obviously at Leicester, stuff like that might not happen, but here in Wales, everyone's in close proximity, so we can actually come together and do that, which I'm really enjoying.

"It's really exciting. Someone like Che, who is young and has got all the the skill set to be a very good nine. The ceiling is really high.

"And Reuben, who's been into camps before. Kieran sadly got a horrific injury on his knee as he was in some fine form.

"Dane (Blacker) has been exceptional for Scarlets. So that competition is a must to drive the standards in that position. Tomos is world class.

"He's an instinctive player, incredible ability, good leader. So to have that competition underneath is crucial to drive performance come game day."