Wales have announced a 54-player training squad for the Rugby World Cup; Joe Hawkins misses out following his move to Exeter Chiefs; Warren Gatland has also named 10 uncapped players
Monday 1 May 2023 15:17, UK
Wales head coach Warren Gatland has named a 54-player training squad for the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
After moving to Exeter Chiefs, Joe Hawkins misses out on the squad and is deemed ineligible to represent Wales due to having fewer than the 25 caps required if you play domestic rugby outside of Wales.
A raft of familiar faces return including Alun Wyn Jones, Leigh Halfpenny, and Ken Owens along with stars such as Will Rowlands, George North, and Liam Williams.
Gatland has also named 10 uncapped players with Corey Domachowski, Kensley Matthias, Keiron Assiratti, Will Davies-King, Henry Thomas, Teddy Williams, Max Llewellyn, Joe Roberts, Keiran Williams and Cai Evans included.
Upon the announcement, Gatland said: "We've picked a large squad for a number of reasons. We will reduce the squad to about 45 before we go to Switzerland so there's a bit of jeopardy in the first part of the campaign.
"It's a great opportunity for some players that were involved in the Six Nations and some youngsters for the future to show us what they are capable of doing in the first part of the preparation.
"In the past we've prided ourselves on how hard we've worked and how fit the squad has been. So that's the message to the players to come in and make a statement, work really hard, make the coaches sit up and take notice and get yourself in great shape physically.
"A lot of skill work needs to be done and there's an opportunity to work on the detail you often don't get when you go into Six Nations or Autumn campaigns when you have limited preparation time."
Wales' preparations begin when players attend training on a rolling basis from May 25, depending on when an individual's club season ends.
The squad will be reduced in number ahead of training camps in both Switzerland and Turkey in July before Wales play three Summer Tests against England (home and away on August 5 and 12) and South Africa at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on August 19.
The final 33-man squad for the World Cup in France is due to be named shortly after.
Wales preliminary training squad for Rugby World Cup 2023:
Forwards: Rhys Carre (Cardiff Rugby - 20 caps), Corey Domachowski (Cardiff Rugby - uncapped), Kemsley Mathias (Scarlets - uncapped), Nicky Smith (Ospreys - 42 caps), Gareth Thomas (Ospreys - 21 caps), Eliott Dee (Dragons - 41 caps), Ryan, Elias (Scarlets - 33 caps), Dewi Lake (Ospreys - 8 caps), Ken Owens (Scarlets - 91 caps), Keiron Assiratti (Cardiff Rugby - uncapped), Tomas Francis (Ospreys - 71 caps), Will Davies-King (Cardiff Rugby - uncapped), Dillon Lewis (Cardiff Rugby - 50 caps), Henry Thomas (Montpellier - uncapped), Adam Beard (Ospreys - 46 caps), Ben Carter (Dragons - 9 caps), Rhys Davies (Ospreys - 2 caps), Cory Hill (Yokohama Canon Eagles - 32 caps), Dafydd Jenkins (Exeter Chiefs - 6 cap), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys - 157 caps), Will Rowlands (Dragons - 23 caps), Christ Tshiunza (Exeter Chiefs - 5 caps), Teddy Williams (Cardiff Rugby - uncapped), Taine Basham (Dragons - 11 caps), Taulupe Faletau (Cardiff Rugby - 100 caps), Dan Lydiate (Ospreys - 68 caps), Josh Macleod (Scarlets - 2 caps), Jac Morgan (Ospreys - 9 caps), Tommy Reffell (Leicester Tigers - 9 caps), Justin Tipuric (Ospreys - 93 caps), Aaron Wainwright (Dragons - 37 caps).
Backs: Gareth Davies (Scarlets - 67 caps), Kieran Hardy (Scarlets - 17 caps), Rhys Webb (Ospreys - 40 caps), Tomos Williams (Cardiff Rugby - 45 caps), Gareth Anscombe (Ospreys - 35 caps), Dan Biggar (Toulon - 107 caps), Sam Costelow (Scarlets - 2 caps), Owen Williams (Ospreys - 7 caps), Mason Grady (Cardiff Rugby - 2 caps), Max Llewellyn (Cardiff Rugby - uncapped), George North (Ospreys - 113 caps), Joe Roberts (Scarlets - uncapped), Nick Tompkins (Saracens - 27 caps), Johnny Williams (Scarlets - 5 caps), Keiran Williams (Ospreys - uncapped), Josh Adams (Cardiff Rugby - 49 caps), Alex Cuthbert (Ospreys - 57 caps), Rio Dyer (Dragons - 7 caps), Cai Evans (Ospreys - uncapped), Leigh Halfpenny (Scarlets - 99 caps), Louis Rees-Zammit (Gloucester Rugby - 25 caps), Tom Rogers (Scarlets - 2 caps), Liam Williams (Cardiff Rugby - 84 caps).
