Warren Gatland has named his 34-man squad for the upcoming Autumn Internationals, with just one uncapped player in the form of Ospreys prop Nicky Smith.
Adam Jones is left out, and there is no room again for James Hook, with the in-form Dan Biggar and the Scarlets’ Rhys Prietland the preferred fly-half options. Bradley Davies returns from injury to take one of the second row spots, alongside Alun Wyn Jones, Luke Charteris and Jake Ball, with no room for Ian Evans.
Captain Sam Warburton, Justin Tipuric and James King all return from injury and join Dan Lydiate, Taulupe Faletau and Dan Baker in the back-row.
“We are really happy with the squad, there is a lot of experience that has come back in, 12 players who were injured in the summer and didn’t tour South Africa, they are back and fit and we have a couple of exciting youngsters as well,” said Gatland.
“Nicky Smith has been playing exceptionally well for the Ospreys and we have been impressed with him and it’s a great opportunity. When you look through the squad there is a huge amount of experience. We’ve taken a lot of things into account and made some tough decisions.
“We’ve had to weigh up a balance of players who play in Wales and outside, due to how often they can train and are with us but we are really happy with the squad. We are looking to the future and the next twelve months ahead with this squad but it doesn’t close the door for anyone not selected.”
Wales squad 2014 Dove Men series:
Forwards: Gethin Jenkins (Cardiff Blues), Paul James (Bath Rugby), Nicky Smith (Ospreys), Richard Hibbard (Gloucester Rugby), Emyr Phillips (Scarlets), Scott Baldwin (Ospreys), Aaron Jarvis (Ospreys), Samson Lee (Scarlets), Rhodri Jones (Scarlets), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys), Jake Ball (Scarlets), Bradley Davies (Wasps), Luke Charteris (Racing Metro), Dan Lydiate (Racing Metro), James King (Ospreys), Sam Warburton (Cardiff Blues, CAPT), Justin Tipuric (Ospreys), Dan Baker (Ospreys), Taulupe Faletau (Dragons).
Backs: Mike Phillips (Racing Metro), Rhys Webb (Ospreys), Rhodri Williams (Scarlets), Dan Biggar (Ospreys), Rhys Priestland (Scarlets), Cory Allen (Cardiff Blues), James Roberts (Racing Metro), Jonathan Davies (ASM Clermont Auvergne), Scott Williams (Scarlets), Hallam Amos (Dragons), Alex Cuthbert (Cardiff Blues), George North (Northampton Saints), Tom Prydie (Dragons), Leigh Halfpenny (Toulon), Liam Williams (Scarlets).
Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images
As you know by now, we are hilarious, and you should be following us on Facebook and Twitter. 
“We’ve had to weigh up a balance of players who play in Wales and outside, due to how often they can train and are with us but we are really happy with the squad” – I’d love to know what he means by that. I can’t see anyone who hasn’t been picked because of where they are playing.
Dropping Adam is big news in terms of his experience but really he has not been on top form this season. In the Blues v Os head to head he was distinctly second best.
Mike + Priestland … sigh. Priestland is a parody of a rugby player. I knew he’d get picked though, especially after ensuring his bi-annual half decent game, without any sort of mental meltdown, coincided with last weekend. On the other hand Mike played well for Racing so with Davies injured down at the Scarlets it’s probably right that it’s Mike + Webb for the 9, with the latter hopefully starting.
I am a little disappointed not to see Owen Williams included (purely as a rugby fan- I don’t support Wales). Whilst he hasn’t quite hit the form of last season, mainly as he’s been playing 12 for tigers, I would have thought he was one of the most exciting talents coming up for Wales. Certainly have him over Priestland?
The whole ‘playing outside of Wales’ thing doesn’t seem to have been used as a reason not to include players, more just Gatland covering himself when we question why he hasn’t picked players like Williams, Hook etc. North, Hibbard, Roberts, Davies, Lydiate etc etc all made it in?
Also shame on Matthew Morgan- seemed to be the most exciting new back talent for Wales, but I believe he is injured?
I have to agree with dropping Jones, real shame but he seems a shadow of the former best tight-head in the world.
Adam Jones has never really found form since the scrum laws changed. Unfortunately for him, outside of scrummaging, he is not very useful.
Phillips is lucky to still be around, he is another that hasn’t performed. Preistland is in the same category, but Hook is someone I don’t particularly rate as an international 10. Talented player, lacks control in my opinion.
The player I’m most surprised to see miss out is Rhys Patchell. Really like the look of him as a player and is different from other 12s in the squad in that he has a good passing game. Could have brought something different to the Welsh back line.
Williams should be in there as well, instead of priestland.
If I was welsh I’d be getting incredibly frustrated with Gatland. He doesn’t seem to want to admit that he can’t take the same squad he had at the last RWC to the next one and is making minimal changes. If he continues to pick the same team that he has for the last three years then I’d been worried beacuse it has been found out.
And can someone please tell me what on earth he see in Alex Cuthbert? He can’t finish from any further out that 5 yards and his defence is abysmal, surely givin the likes of Kristian Phillips, Harry Robinson & Jordan Williams a go would be better players with a little more about them…
Hang on what am I saying?…I’m English!…Keep up the good work Warren, you’re doing a smashing job!
Ah, the old “found out” accusation. Ok then, I fully expect every team we play this year to wallop us as we’ve been “found out”. I hope Warren does keep up the good work – we need to beat 1 or preferably both of Eng and Aus at least in the WC next year. I’m not discounting Fiji either. Our record against England for the last 4 is that we have won 3 and lost 1. Our record in the last 6 is that we have won 3 and lost 3. Stats to make a Welshman leap with joy if he remembers the 90s and early noughties at all. I don’t see us as favourites to win that crunch match but I don’t see it as a “found out” lost cause either.
As for the squad selection – In the last RWC we had the youngest squad at the whole thing, most of them not far off their Welsh debuts. So it makes perfect sense that we still have most of those players getting ready for the next one. When England make a song and dance about “not having enough experience” at world cups it’s received as a truism and SL gets plaudits for working on it. When Wales try and build a core of 50+ cap players it’s conservatism. In that same period of time, when Wales and England were both blooding new players, Wales have never been smashed by England.
Our record against SH sides in that time is marginally worse than England’s and the same as Ireland’s. Scotland have the best record of all 3 of us.
My point is that’s hyperbolic to claim that Wales have been “found out” based on not achieving the Slams and titles they did in the previous couple of years or this hilarious assertion that a team playing poorly is in fact a team stuck on “Warrenball”. It’s not that – we’re just playing badly. When we lost by single digits to Aus and SA we weren’t losing because of “Warrenball”, we were losing due to lack of game management, lack of sense (experience) and the excellent play of the opposition. Ditching almost the whole squad for a new one won’t fix the first two of those problems.
I think this squad is a decent one – good balance of young and old, a mix of players to enable a bit of a change. A few notable omissions e.g. Eli Walker but a few welcome additions e.g. Hallam Amos.
Cuthbert – 12 tries in 26 Wales appearances. 29 tries in 48 Blues appearances. Sorted stats for a winger.
I do actually agree with you, the squad is decent the only changed I make (that others haven’t said) is Cuthbert for one the foremention in my last post. I was just pointing out if I was Welsh I be frustrated that it has taken Gatland this long to make these changes.
My comment about being found out was that in my opinion, you haven’t imporved or changed in the last three years, I don’t think you’ve actually got worse, just other teams have got better. And why, becuase they changed the things that need changing, Gatland hasn’t (until now).
Don’t think me rude, but I’m not going to start trading stats with you, as I can come up just as many that suggest the opposite. I was merely giving my opinion and you are quite within you right to disagree with it. And at the end of the day, in a years time, any one of, England, Wales or the Aussies could have gone home early at the group stage, equally anyone of them could have top the group and mostly likely be preparing for a WC semi final. And opinions about who that will be are more than likely to change game by game from now untill the RWC.
Chris Ashton – 19 tries in 39 England appearances. 23 tries in 33 Saracens appearances (2013-2014).
Doesn’t mean he should be in the England team…
Hah, I really have no answer to that. Point conceded.
Graeme, you caught an accumulation with my reply – an accumulation of getting a bit fed up with this general idea that Wales are a busted flush because we’ve been found out. I just don’t really understand it. I don’t think there is much wrong with the game – it’s our execution of it that is an issue.
Most teams play broadly the same way they always have – Aus are pixies, SA will beat you up, NZ will play with intensity + pace and invite you to have the ball so they can prosper over turnovers … England will dally with backline moves but when push comes to shove they’ll go for the big men up front. None of those teams have overly suffered from that style of play apart from when they don’t execute it well.
Our lack of improvement has come from an inability to execute in a consistent fashion in my opinion. The persistence with Priestland and an out-of-form Mike has been an issue but it’s not the only one – I’ll be glad to see Biggar given a run at 10 but I’m still worried that he has not shone in his previous runs in the jersey. That’s my problem with calling for wholesale changes – all of the countries are littered with guys who sparkled in their clubs for a while but totally failed to do anything in the national jersey’s so I’m afraid that it would be madness to throw the baby out with the bathwater – to dismantle thoroughly a team of WC semi-finalists and Grand Slam winners.
Even last season, when by a lot of reports we were rubbish, we managed to win all of our home 6Ns games and ran SA painfully close (again, I know) in the summer. There is a lot to build on there so I want evolution, not revolution.
I think it comes down to the interpretation of the pharse ‘found out’, I don’t mean it in terms of game plan or style, I agree with what you say on that; the only place I differ is that I don’t feel Wales traditional style of play is Warrenball I’ve always seen Wales as more of a team that likes to throw the ball around abit.
What I mean by it is that when you got to the semi fianl and won the grand slam, some and by no means all, Wales fans seem to think that you were the second best side in the world and you couldn’t be playing any better. In my opinion this isn’t the case, you won mainly because the other NH teams were playing average at best and not excuting their game very well, which is why you came unstruck against the SH teams like everyone else. Bit of a harsh way of looking at it, but you were the best of a bad bunch, so to speak.
All I feel has happen now is that the other teams have improve and ironed out some, not all of their weaknesses where Wales haven’t, which is where you have been found out. For me this is Gatland’s fault as, I don’t know if was distracted by the Lions job or what but he didn’t seem to want to look ahead. Most of the other teams seem to have options in the different postions going into the world cup where they have a group of players they can pick from. To me Wales don’t have that, you’ve got your first 15, which some would debate (inculding me) isn’t actually your best but that is it. For instanice do you know which is you second best centre pairing or if North or Cuthbert gets injuried who the would be the replacement etc. I don’t feel this is as clear cut as it is for other teams.
I’m not suggesting that you need whole sale changes, and as I said this squad is pretty decent. Just feel that he should of picked it about two years ago and viewed it as a four year cycle and tested a few players out, espically when you consider the age of some of the older players. A year out from a WC seems a little late, but who knows it could all work out fine at the moment any of three teams is just as likely to top the group as they’re to finish third. It is too colse to call!
Graeme, if I was the paranoid type I might wonder if you are trolling me now :-) We’ve gone from the “Wales are found out” cliche to the “Wales only do well when the rest of the teams are poor” one.
In that WC we came a well beaten 4th. We weren’t even the best team there from the North, I don’t know of anyone who thought we were 2nd best in the world. When we came back I thought we had a shout at developing into being the best in Europe and I think the Slam and the run around it proved that for a while we were. I don’t dismiss that as the others playing badly but it’s a perennial argument that never goes away – we only dominate when the others are rebuilding/etc. Not an argument I ever buy. When I see us lose recently it’s primarily down to poor execution e.g. against England we came up against a team that wanted, executed and took advantage of our mess – we didn’t defend a tap pen and we didn’t take the chances we had to score. When I think of our best wins e.g. 30-3 I see broadly the same team but playing at a fantastic level so I have confidence that we have the base to do it again.
In terms of us not having as settled a squad of probables/possibles as others I can’t agree. Who are England’s 2nd choice wings? Who are their first choice centres? Whos’ the 2nd choice FH? The Irish centres? The Scottish FH? The French squad? I don’t see us as suffering any more than others – indeed I’d say we have more settled first XV options than most of the others. I don’t see that as a bad thing. Of course we don’t have as much depth as England but then nobody does in terms of numbers. What’s key when fit is how well our best players stack up against each other and in nearly every position I’d still go for a Welshman, but I am biased obviously there. When not fit … well, Eng are going to miss Tuliagi, Corbs, etc. no matter who they have as backup.
In terms of developing depth I see we’ve done well – Prop: 2 or 3 replacement options for Adam (Rhodri from Scarlets, Samson Lee and now this new Os boy); 2nd row: Jake Ball; Back Row; Baker/Navidi; FH: Patchell; SH: Davies; Centres: Amos; FB: Williams. Some of those 2nd choice players would make a good push to get into some other squads.
“at the moment any of three teams is just as likely to top the group as they’re to finish third. It is too colse to call!” – completely agree and as someone the wrong side of 40 just having that is extremely welcome. A decade ago we wouldn’t even have a chance of coming out of that WC group. Plenty on here have told me that we don’t this time either, but most decent rugby fans know that we’re in with a shout, as you do.
I could say that you were trolling me! But we’re obivously not, just having a healthy deabte. Although I think it is time to agree to disagree, otherwise we shall propbably be still here come this time next year :-)
Expect the same old same old selection from Gatland.
Getting in the side is harder than being dropped for being rubbish ……….Priestland, Phillips, Cuthbert or even Gethin Jenkins.
Jenkins in again over Paul James for the 1st game as usual. Scrum to be an issue again as per Twickenham 2014 cos Melonhead CANNOT scrimmage-rather important for No1 that!
Wales to lose as usual.
Priestland at No10 where he has been such a success for years!
Phillips will be in at 9 because of his XP.
Oh well the best chance of a winning a major game is against Aussies after seeing the SA v AB and Aus v AB games last few weeks but we won’t be picking Paul James to destroy the Aussie Front Row because Gethin is playing so so well for the Loos (who happen to be Wales’s lowest placed region!!)
No place for Tipuric in the starting team even though he is the most creative and skilful No7 in Europe and wins numerous turnovers for the teams he plays in.
We’ll have Roger Gimp’s at No7 who was invisible against the Ospreys apart from his yellow card.
Still as we are always told refs like the Gimp because he’s polite and a good loser.
4 games, 3 losses, no major SH scalp to speak of, slection to be the same so a mediocre 6N in Feb/Mar beckons and things still won’t change so out at the Pool Stage of RWC 2015.
Nice one Gats!
I don’t think that anyone can argue that Gatland’s squad is a ‘bad one’. However I don’t agree with the selections he’s made around the fly-half position.
Biggar has in my opinion at least earned the right to start as number 10. Give and take a little bit, he is the in-form number 10 at the moment. But why, oh why is Priestland our back up option? I feel it’s a risk-free, boring, and predictable choice from Gats.
A few years ago, I was one of the later ones to jump on the Priestland band wagon, because even though I was never fully convinced, I think he did have a great start to his career, and did at times look incredibly exciting. But unfortunately for him, his injuries have meant he just hasn’t been able to reach the same form again. Very much a Chris Czekaj story…
We need a radically different plan B option on the bench, if not a plan C as well against the Southern hemisphere sides. We’re already at risk of falling into the same mould and pattern that has seen us lose countless number of games against NZ/Aus/SA recently.
We need Patchell/Owen Williams/Hook/Matthew Morgan involved in some capacity in match day squads, let alone the full squad for the Autumn international. Especially in the case of Patchell and Williams, they will undoubtedly contribute a lot to Welsh rugby in the future, and have already shown the ability to control their club sides with maturity beyond their years. They can handle the pressure of this Autumn series, and indeed thrive if given the chance.