Major calls face Gatland as clock ticks towards his Six Nations choice
WARREN Gatland will name his Wales Six Nations squad in roughly a month’s time, meaning the competition for places should go up a notch over the festive period.
Gatland guided Wales through a tough pool at the Rugby World Cup in France, but the Six Nations will be the start of a new four-year cycle.
Some of the more experienced players such as Dan Biggar and Leigh Halfpenny have moved on, meaning there is likely to be a more youthful feel to Gatland’s squad.
Rugby correspondent Steffan Thomas assesses what the squad could be based on recent performances.
Back three
Let’s not beat around the bush. The likes of Josh Adams, Louis Rees-Zammit and Rio Dyer are close to nailedon, fitness permitting, but the back three does provide room for the odd bolter.
With Halfpenny out of the equation and Liam Williams plying his trade in Japan, Gatland needs to find answers at full-back.
Both Adams and Rees-Zammit are capable of slotting in there, but the likes of uncapped Cardiff full-back Cameron Winnett and new Dragons signing Cai Evans must surely be considered. Evans is a reliable operator with a very low error rate.
The 24-year-old has a big kicking game, both out of hand and from the tee, while his positional sense is top notch. Evans covers the back field very well, while he also takes good options and has a lot of peripheral vision.
Arguably the form full-back in Wales is Cardiff man Winnett, who has earned rave reviews for his performances at regional level this season.
Winnett is a lovely footballer who is excellent in defence and is a dangerous attacking player. Exeter Chiefs wing Immanuel Feyi-Waboso is also someone who is bang in form and is one of the deadliest finishers in the English Premiership.
Selection: Cameron Winnett, Cai Evans, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Louis Rees-Zammit, Josh Adams, Rio Dyer.
Centres
One thing Gatland will definitely want to do is nail down an established centre partnership by the next World Cup, in the same manner as Jamie Roberts and Jonathan Davies who had a telepathic understanding of each other’s game.
Both Nick Tompkins and George North had excellent World Cups but Gatland, through no fault of his own, won’t want to leave it so late in the day this time around before having a settled front-line centre partnership.
One player who everyone should be excited by is Mason Grady, with the 21-year-old having all the tools required to excel in the Test arena. Grady has been playing on the wing for Cardiff this season and this is something Wales could also explore, but in the long run outside centre is likely to be his position.
Keiran Williams has been excellent for the Ospreys this season, but does he have the pace to become a top-end Test player? Time will tell. Joe Roberts is currently injured but his Scarlets team-mate Eddie James is someone who may be light on experience but has a huge ceiling.
While powerful Scarlets centre Johnny Williams is likely to be in the frame, he hasn’t been at his best this season, and it’ll be interesting to see if Ben Thomas can build on his outstanding performance in Cardiff’s narrow defeat to Bath.
Selection: George North, Nick Tompkins, Eddie James, Mason Grady, Ben Thomas.
Half-backs
When Gatland was recently asked where the cupboard was most bare for Wales moving forward, he was quick to identify the number 10 and 15 shirts as areas in need of extra strength in depth.
The reality is Wales will need to go through some pain at fly-half over the next couple of years given Biggar has called it a day and Gareth Anscombe has moved to Japan, although he wants to be considered for the summer tour of Australia.
The Wales management have huge faith in Sam Costelow and are confident he will develop into a special player, but an injury picked up against the Barbarians has put the Scarlets playmaker’s participation in the Six Nations in doubt.
Hopefully, the 22-year-old will be fit and available come February, and if he is Costelow will very likely be Gatland’s first choice for their opener against Scotland.
The form No. 10 in Wales so far this season has been Ioan Lloyd. The former Bristol Bears man is probably the most naturally gifted player in Wales, but it remains to be seen whether he can control proceedings at Test level. Harlequins fly-half Jarrod Evans is also understood to be available for selection despite having fewer than 25 caps, and playing outside of Wales due to the fact he did not receive a credible offer from a Welsh region.
There’s also a good chance Gatland will take a good look at Callum Sheedy, who is back playing regularly for Bristol after a difficult 18 months. Sheedy is a quality operator and played a crucial role in Wales’ 2021 Six Nations-winning campaign, making a big impact as a second-half replacement.
At 28 he still has a lot to offer Wales and will be around at the next World Cup, while Ospreys playmaker Owen
Williams is also an option.
Scrum-half is a bit more straightforward. Gareth Davies is still comfortably Wales’ best nine, but at 33 he is highly unlikely to make the next World Cup. One would expect Gatland to stick with him for now but also push Tomos Williams through as first choice.
Selection: Tomos Williams, Gareth Davies, Kieran Hardy, Sam Costelow, Callum Sheedy, Ioan Lloyd.
Front row
When it comes to the front row, Gatland will likely stick with Ospreys pair Gareth Thomas and Nicky Smith as his first-choice looseheads. Thomas was outstanding throughout Wales’ World Cup campaign and is one of the most underrated players in this Wales squad.
There is a strong case to bring Rhys Carre back in but it would be a shock if Gatland went down that road given he ejected him from his extended World Cup squad for not hitting the required fitness targets.
He hasn’t had a breakout game for Wales yet, but the coaches have invested a lot in Corey Domachowski, so the smart money is on the Cardiff prop retaining his place in the squad.
Tighthead is a bigger dilemma.
Tomas Francis has been a terrific servant for Wales since being called into the squad out of nowhere in 2015, but will be playing in the second tier of French rugby for Provence next season.
He remains Wales’ best scrummaging tighthead but will be 35 at the next World Cup. And is playing week in, week out in the PROD2 a good enough preparation – especially from a fitness perspective – for the rigours of Test rugby?
It’s also worth noting all three of the tighthead props who were in Gatland’s World Cup squad will be plying their trade outside of Wales this season.
That could be a problem, considering they will miss the training camp leading up to the Six Nations and will have to go back to their clubs on the fallow weekends.
Tighthead is an Achilles heel for Wales and Gatland will try his best to uncover a destructive scrummager over the next four years.
He could keep selecting Henry Thomas, who is at Top 14 outfit Montpellier, while the experienced Dillon Lewis is at Harlequins. Gatland has always seen something in Leon Brown, but the Dragons prop can’t stay fit, while Keiron Assiratti impressed him over the summer.
Selection: Gareth Thomas, Nicky Smith, Corey Domachowski, Elliot Dee, Ryan Elias, Dewi Lake, Henry Thomas, Tomas Francis, Kieron Assiratti.
Second row
Gatland will want to develop more strength in the front five over the coming seasons. Adam Beard (circled, right) is not everyone’s cup of tea but is one of the first names on Gatland’s team sheet, but it would be a surprise if Exeter Chiefs lock Dafydd Jenkins didn’t become a senior player in the next couple of years.
Will Rowlands will be 36 by the time 2027 comes around, but will likely remain in the squad for now. Abrasive Ospreys second row Rhys Davies will also be pushing hard for selection, as will Teddy Williams who has been playing well for Cardiff.
Gatland also has the option of Christ Tshiunza and Cardiff forward Seb Davies. Looking forward over the next couple of seasons young Ospreys lock James Fender, who was outstanding during their victory over the Sharks on Friday night, could also be looked at. Selection: Adam Beard, Dafydd Jenkins, Rhys Davies, Christ Tshiunza, Will Rowlands, Teddy Williams.
Back row
One of the biggest questions Gatland will have on his mind is whether he can get Taulupe Faletau through to the next World Cup where he will be 36. If there’s one player who can play Test rugby at that age it’s Faletau, and given his importance to Wales the likelihood is he will be looked after, with his game-time carefully managed, in the hope he reaches Australia 2027. But Gatland will need to find alternatives to Faletau, and he already has one in Aaron Wainwright who had a fine World
Cup. One player it will be very difficult to ignore is Ospreys No. 8 Morgan Morris.
The 25-year-old has been consistently excellent at regional level for the past few years. He may not be the biggest, but he is a dynamic carrier who has a few strings to his bow with his work at the breakdown, relentless defence and his footwork giving him a real point of difference.
Carwyn Tuipulotu is also highly regarded by many in Welsh rugby, but one of the success stories of the opening months of the season has been Cardiff’s Mackenzie Martin. The 20-year-old is a physical specimen but he is also an athlete with tremendous footwork, and is extremely explosive.
Young Ospreys back-rower Morgan Morse is also someone who could come into the equation over the coming seasons, but perhaps the Six Nations will come too soon for the 18-yearold.
Selection: Aaron Wainwright, Tommy Reffell, Jac Morgan (captain), Taulupe Faletau, Morgan Morris, Taine Basham, Mackenzie Martin