[ad_1]
Alex Cuthbert has no intention of calling time on his international rugby career.
A calf injury ended his 2023 World Cup hopes before Wales coach Warren Gatland named his squad for the tournament in France.
“I’ll keep going until the point Warren doesn’t want to pick me,” said 33-year-old Ospreys wing Cuthbert.
He added: “I still feel my game really works well internationally and I’ve got a lot to give.”
Cuthbert missed gruelling preparation trips to Switzerland and Turkey before being ruled out 24 hours prior to the Wales’ final warm-up game against South Africa.
He told the Scrum V podcast he is “absolutely gutted” and “devastated” to miss out on the World Cup which kicks off on Friday, 8 September.
“I’m still loving playing rugby and enjoying it as much as ever, but I need to give myself every chance to perform for my club,” said Cuthbert.
“Being in that Wales environment they ask an awful lot of you and they don’t give you the leeway the club gives me in terms of training load.”
He hopes to speak to Gatland to discuss his future after the tournament.
“Maybe I’ll have a conversation with Warren and see where I’m at after the World Cup,” said Cuthbert.
“I still feel I can offer an awful lot at international level, especially with Rio [Dyer] coming through and [Louis] Rees-Zammit who’s a young player as well.
“Wingers wise there’s not too many players pushing through, if you look at the wider squad Tom Rogers was probably the only other winger, so I still feel I can offer a lot at international level.”
Cuthbert made his international debut in Shane Williams’ final game against Australia after the 2011 World Cup and was part of the 2015 party, but he missed out four years later after falling foul of the 60-cap rule while playing for Exeter.
Cuthbert last played for Wales in February against Scotland, missing the rest of Wales’ disappointing Six Nations with an injury.
“It’s been a frustrating couple of months, I was diagnosed with a stress response just before the England game and then it ended up being a fracture which put me out for the rest of the season,” he said.
“I was chasing my tail a little bit in terms of getting back fit for the mini-camps in May and June, and with the workload my calf said ‘that was it’.
“I got fit for the game against South Africa, which was always the plan, but unfortunately it wasn’t quite right.
“Gutting really, the family and I were looking forward to it, especially coming towards the end of my career, it could’ve been my last game at home which would’ve been quite a nice game to have.”
Cuthbert believes facing the Springboks would have pitted him into a “shootout” with Dragons’ Dyer for a World Cup spot.
“A couple of weeks prior I thought I had enough in the bank and Gats has seen me play over a number of years he knows what I’m going to give,” said Cuthbert.
“I think he wanted me to put in a good shift against South Africa, I relish that challenge, I love playing South Africa, they’re always a team I end up playing well against so I was hoping to put in a good shift.
“With Rio [Dyer] on the other wing that was a bit of a shootout I guess, but it wasn’t meant to be.
“For me, it is what it is, I’ve had a lot of set-backs throughout my career and this is just another one.”
With Wales’ lengthy injury record at World Cups and injury call-up isn’t out of the question, but Cuthbert is focusing on his regional form first.
“My phone’s not on silent,” joked Cuthbert.
“I’ll be fit in next couple of weeks, in the 2015 World Cup we had boys that weren’t even in the outer squad come in and play the quarter-finals.
“But for me now, I’ve ruled it out, I want a couple of weeks off, get my body right and look forward to a good season at club level.”
In the podcast, Cuthbert also talks about Wales’ World Cup prospects, including the Pool C games against Fiji and Australia as well as Gatland’s new co-captains, Jac Morgan and Dewi Lake.
He also picks his favourites to win the Webb Ellis Cup.
