Wales boss Warren Gatland has announced his 34-man squad for this year’s Six Nations with Dafydd Jenkins in line to become the second youngest men’s player to lead the country in a game after being named captain for the Championship.
Gatland has named five uncapped players in his squad, which has been split into 19 forwards and 15 backs. They are: Cardiff back-rowers Alex Mann and Mackenzie Martin as well as their club team-mates hooker Evan Lloyd and full-back Cameron Winnett and Bath tighthead prop Archie Griffin.
Eight other players could make their
debuts, including Keiron Assiratti, Corey Domachowski, Cai Evans, Kemsley Mathias, Joe Roberts and Teddy Williams, who all made their international bows last summer as well as Scarlets duo Sam Costelow and Ioan Lloyd.
Meanwhile, Ospreys centre Owen Watkin and Cardiff back-row James Botham have earned recalls to a Wales squad that has an average age of 25.
“There’s a little bit of experience in terms of players like George North and Gareth Davies – we wanted a little bit of continuity with that and we’re also thinking about the next Rugby World Cup cycle and giving some youngsters an opportunity, some youngsters that are not featuring regularly for their club sides,” said
, who will be without the services of Louis Rees-Zammit after he left Gloucester in order to pursue a career in the National Football League (NFL).
“I’m really excited about those youngsters and that opportunity to develop them over the next four years. The average age of the squad is about 25 compared to a little bit older during the Rugby World Cup and then you look at this next cycle and you want to get those players to mid to late 20s in terms of experience and age.
“What I’ve learned in the past is that even though we’ve done all that hard work in terms of preparation and build up to the Rugby World Cup.
For me it’s about going back the start a little bit, going back to honing the basics and hammering away at that and almost like starting again. You have to reset in terms of our goals and what we want to achieve. I think Scotland at home is a good game for us, they’re a quality side, they’ll be disappointed with what happened with them in terms of not getting out of the pool at the World Cup.
“For us it’s a great game to start at home with a full crowd, packed stadium, exactly what you want under a bit of pressure. If you can get off to a good start and win your opening game then it gives you an opportunity to go further in the tournament.
“This first game is incredibly important to us and those first two weeks in terms of putting in the hard word and bringing the squad together. I hope people can see that what we’re trying to do with the team is to develop some of these youngsters to help support the regions I think that’s really, really important in terms of us working together as a collective going forward – developing the young players but also preparing for a good Six Nations and for the future.”
Regarding the captaincy, Gatland added: “We’ve been incredibly impressed with in terms of his professionalism and how he prepares.
It’s a great opportunity for Daf, he’s captained Exeter on a number of occasions, he’s a well-respected member of the squad. I rang and spoke to him and he was absolutely delighted to accept the role and I’m sure that he’ll do a great job and get a huge amount of support from the rest of the squad.”
Wales’ squad will gather at the national training base in Hensol on Monday, January 22 ahead of their first match against Scotland at a sold out Principality Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday, February 3.
Forwards: Corey Domachowski (Cardiff Rugby), Kemsley Mathias (Scarlets), Gareth Thomas (Ospreys), Elliot Dee (Dragons), Ryan Elias (Scarlets), Evan Lloyd (Cardiff Rugby), Keiron Assiratti (Cardiff Rugby), Leon Brown (Dragons), Archie Griffin (Bath Rugby), Adam Beard (Ospreys), Dafydd Jenkins (Exeter Chiefs), Will Rowlands (Racing 92), Teddy Williams (Cardiff Rugby), Taine Basham (Dragons), James Botham (Cardiff Rugby), Alex Mann (Cardiff Rugby), Mackenzie Martin (Cardiff Rugby), Tommy Reffell (Leicester Tigers), Aaron Wainwright (Dragons)
Backs: Gareth Davies (Scarlets), Kieran Hardy (Scarlets), Tomos Williams (Cardiff Rugby), Sam Costelow (Scarlets), Cai Evans (Dragons), Ioan Lloyd (Scarlets), Mason Grady (Cardiff Rugby), George North (Ospreys), Joe Roberts (Scarlets), Nick Tompkins (Saracens), Owen Watkin (Ospreys), Josh Adams (Cardiff Rugby), Rio Dyer (Dragons), Tom Rogers (Scarlets), Cameron Winnett (Cardiff Rugby)
