RWC extended squad

[normanski]

Gatland names his extended squad for RWC today.

I can’t think there are going to be any bolters at this stage of the process because we have a pretty wide group of proven performers to select from. Only some serious injuries to established players between now and September could open the door to fringe prospects.

One upside to our poor performances in the league and Champions Cup is that a lot of our first choice players minimise the risk of injury, unlike Ireland, Scotland and England.

Keeping players fit and free from serious injury has to be the priority for Gatland and co.

It would be great to go to Japan with 31 fully fit squad members.

[Son of Mathonwy]

Forwards: Leon Brown (Dragons), Rhys Carre (Cardiff Blues), Rob Evans (Scarlets), Tomas Francis (Exeter), Wyn Jones (Scarlets), Samson Lee (Scarlets), Dillon Lewis (Cardiff Blues), Nicky Smith (Ospreys) , Elliot Dee (Dragons), Ryan Elias (Scarlets), Ken Owens (Scarlets), Jake Ball (Scarlets), Adam Beard (Ospreys), Bradley Davies (Ospreys), Cory Hill (Dragons), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys), James Davies (Scarlets), Taulupe Faletau (Bath), Ross Moriarty (Dragons), Josh Navidi (Cardiff Blues), Aaron Shingler (Scarlets), Justin Tipuric (Ospreys), Aaron Wainwright (Dragons).

Backs: Aled Davies (Ospreys), Gareth Davies (Scarlets), Tomos Williams (Cardiff Blues), Gareth Anscombe (Cardiff Blues), Dan Biggar (Northampton Saints), Jarrod Evans (Cardiff Blues), Rhys Patchell (Scarlets), Jonathan Davies (Scarlets), Hadleigh Parkes (Scarlets), Owen Watkin (Ospreys), Scott Williams (Ospreys), Josh Adams (Worcester Warriors), Hallam Amos (Dragons), Steff Evans (Scarlets), Leigh Halfpenny (Scarlets), Owen Lane (Cardiff Blues), George North (Ospreys), Jonah Holmes (Leicester Tigers), Liam Williams (Saracens).

[Son of Mathonwy]

Good to get Carre in there before he's nicked by the English. But if they cap him in August, can he then start his contract with Saracens without becoming ineligible for Wales?
Hope Taulupe and Shingler are ok after a long time away, but yes they should be there.
A bit tough on Sam Davies, Jarrod Evans getting the nod ahead of him, especially after Judgement Day.
Steffen Evans is lucky to keep his spot after being nonexistent for the Scarlets this season. Lucky for him Giles took so long to come back. (Broken record) Dan Evans should be there instead....

[Numbers]

I can't imagine that James Davies will make the final squad, if Ellis Jenkins is fit by then he offers more versatility across the back row.

[Graigwen]

Good to get Carre in there before he's nicked by the English. But if they cap him in August, can he then start his contract with Saracens without becoming ineligible for Wales?

He is reported to have already signed the contract. I believe he would only have been caught if he signed after selection for the senior squad.

(Maybe there has been a bit of collusion here?)

.

[Graigwen]

Hope Taulupe and Shingler are ok after a long time away, but yes they should be there.
A bit tough on Sam Davies, Jarrod Evans getting the nod ahead of him, especially after Judgement Day.
Steffen Evans is lucky to keep his spot after being nonexistent for the Scarlets this season. Lucky for him Giles took so long to come back. (Broken record) Dan Evans should be there instead....

I would not disagree with too much of that. Stef Evans is very lucky in my opinion.

I have not seen much of Keelan Giles recently. Often it takes a while to get back to really top form after such a bad injury. Before it he looked like a cert.

.

[normanski]

Good to get Carre in there before he's nicked by the English. But if they cap him in August, can he then start his contract with Saracens without becoming ineligible for Wales?

He is reported to have already signed the contract. I believe he would only have been caught if he signed after selection for the senior squad.

(Maybe there has been a bit of collusion here?)

.

I can’t understand why we switched from the U20s to the A team to qualify for Wales.

When was the last time we had an A team international? It must be years ago.

By using the U20s as the qualifying criterion then we would not be in this position with players like Carre who luckily seems to have just beaten the rule.

Will the four friendlies this summer count as capped internationals? Or will they just be run outs for the 31 man squad?

[Son of Mathonwy]

Hope Taulupe and Shingler are ok after a long time away, but yes they should be there.
A bit tough on Sam Davies, Jarrod Evans getting the nod ahead of him, especially after Judgement Day.
Steffen Evans is lucky to keep his spot after being nonexistent for the Scarlets this season. Lucky for him Giles took so long to come back. (Broken record) Dan Evans should be there instead....

I would not disagree with too much of that. Stef Evans is very lucky in my opinion.

I have not seen much of Keelan Giles recently. Often it takes a while to get back to really top form after such a bad injury. Before it he looked like a cert.

.

Giles certainly hasn't done enough to get a call up this season. He's been good but in the limited time he's had, not good enough (not being a proven international, anyway). Hopefully he'll work himself back to where he was, which was pretty spectacular at times.

[Puja]

Good to get Carre in there before he's nicked by the English. But if they cap him in August, can he then start his contract with Saracens without becoming ineligible for Wales?

He is reported to have already signed the contract. I believe he would only have been caught if he signed after selection for the senior squad.

(Maybe there has been a bit of collusion here?)

.

I can’t understand why we switched from the U20s to the A team to qualify for Wales.

When was the last time we had an A team international? It must be years ago.

By using the U20s as the qualifying criterion then we would not be in this position with players like Carre who luckily seems to have just beaten the rule.

Will the four friendlies this summer count as capped internationals? Or will they just be run outs for the 31 man squad?

There's no switch involved - it was a World Rugby rule that you could no longer name your U20s. It makes sense, as it should be all or none.

Puja

[Saison]

Well yes but if consistency is the goal shouldnt they keep it to full caps as quite a lot of teams cant afford an A team....?

He is reported to have already signed the contract. I believe he would only have been caught if he signed after selection for the senior squad.

(Maybe there has been a bit of collusion here?)

.

I can’t understand why we switched from the U20s to the A team to qualify for Wales.

When was the last time we had an A team international? It must be years ago.

By using the U20s as the qualifying criterion then we would not be in this position with players like Carre who luckily seems to have just beaten the rule.

Will the four friendlies this summer count as capped internationals? Or will they just be run outs for the 31 man squad?

There's no switch involved - it was a World Rugby rule that you could no longer name your U20s. It makes sense, as it should be all or none.

Puja

[Puja]

Well yes but if consistency is the goal shouldnt they keep it to full caps as quite a lot of teams cant afford an A team....?

Well, yes, but I guess the argument is that 18 year olds shouldn't be tied or not tied based on which country they turn out for and against whom. At least with the A teams, it's all adult rugby.

Mind, the rules are a mess generally. You get Mike Haley who played several times for England against the Barbarians, played for England A against South Africa A, and yet he's free to play for Ireland (because South Africa's second team is apparently the "Emerging Springboks" who haven't played since 2007). Whereas Mathieu Belie gets Spain thrown out the RWC qualifying because he played for France U20s against Wales U20s in 2010 before the rules changed.

Puja

[Saison]

Well yes but if consistency is the goal shouldnt they keep it to full caps as quite a lot of teams cant afford an A team....?

Well, yes, but I guess the argument is that 18 year olds shouldn't be tied or not tied based on which country they turn out for and against whom. At least with the A teams, it's all adult rugby.

Mind, the rules are a mess generally. You get Mike Haley who played several times for England against the Barbarians, played for England A against South Africa A, and yet he's free to play for Ireland (because South Africa's second team is apparently the "Emerging Springboks" who haven't played since 2007). Whereas Mathieu Belie gets Spain thrown out the RWC qualifying because he played for France U20s against Wales U20s in 2010 before the rules changed.

Puja

Nuts