[2020 Six Nations] Wales Squad

[TRF_Olyy]

Wales' 2020 Six Nations Squad​

Forwards (21)
Rhys Carre (Saracens) (6 Caps)
Rob Evans (Scarlets) (36 Caps)
Wyn Jones (Scarlets) (22 Caps)
Elliot Dee (Dragons) (29 Caps)
Ryan Elias (Scarlets) (9 Caps)
Ken Owens (Scarlets) (73 Caps)
Leon Brown (Dragons) (6 Caps)
WillGriff John (Sale) (*uncapped)
Dillon Lewis (Blues) (22 Caps)
Jake Ball (Scarlets) (42 Caps)
Adam Beard (Ospreys) (20 Caps)
Seb Davies (Blues) (7 Caps)
Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys) (134 Caps) (CAPTAIN)
Will Rowlands (Wasps) (*uncapped)
Cory Hill (Dragons) (24 Caps)
Aaron Shingler (Scarlets) (26 Caps)
Aaron Wainwright (Dragons) (18 Caps)
Taulupe Faletau (Bath) (72 Caps)
Ross Moriarty (Dragons) (41 Caps)
Josh Navidi (Blues) (23 Caps)
Justin Tipuric (Osprey) (72 Caps)

Backs (17)
Gareth Davies (Scarlets) (51 Caps)
Rhys Webb (Toulon) (31 Caps)
Tomos Williams (Blues) (16 Caps)
Dan Biggar (Northampton) (79 Caps)
Owen Williams (Gloucester) (3 Caps)
Jarrod Evans (Blues) (3 Caps)
Hadleigh Parkes (Scarlets) (25 Caps)
Nick Tompkins (Saracens) (*uncapped)
Owen Watkin (Ospreys) (22 Caps)
George North (Ospreys) (91 Caps)
Josh Adams (Blues) (21 Caps)
Owen Lane (Blues) (2 Caps)
Johnny McNicholl (Scarlets) (*uncapped)
Louis Rees-Zammit (Gloucester) (*uncapped)
Jonah Holmes (Leicester Tigers) (3 Caps)
Leigh Halfpenny (Scarlets) (85 Caps)
Liam Williams (Saracens) (62 Caps)

 

[Jashay]

Looks solid enough with the injury list they have! Six wingers seems like a lot, though... I guess North is covering centre and wing?

Lots of new-ish players coming in; what do people think are the positions up for grabs? I don't feel like any of the props are particularly nailed on, and Hadleigh Parkes and Alun Wyn will leave gaps when they go.

 

[Scotty]

So
Nick tompkins
Willgriff John
Will Rowland

How are they Welsh? (Actual question not shitty comment )

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Good to see Faletau back. Top class player.

 

[Mr Ruggleby]

Classic Wales, always poaching English-developed talent...Nick Tompkins, Will Rowlands, Louis Rees-Zammit, Jonah Holmes, that Bath lad Faletau, Dan Biggar is a Saint through and through, WillGriff John sounds about as "Welsh" as a cup of (daffodil) tea, in fact I once saw Alun Wyn having a coffee in Bristol so who knows where his real allegiance lies...

Bunch of mercenaries the lot of them.

Yours,
Sir Maro CokinaVunipolagi of Brexitingdonshire

 

[Mr Ruggleby]

So
Nick tompkins
Willgriff John
Will Rowland

How are they Welsh? (Actual question not shitty comment )

Nick tompkins - Granny
Will Rowland - Granny
Willgriff John - with a name like that it has to be residency...

 

[TRF_Olyy]

WGJ is Granny as well

 

[profitius]

So Englishmen like a bit of Welsh grannies! :O

 

[MikeTheNative]

I'm pretty Sure Will Griff John lived in Wales when he was a teenager. Another case of somehow not being deemed good enough for a region only to shine elsewhere. I understand the selection of Tompkins due to the injuries, I doubt you will see him have too many games when others are back but not sure about the point of selecting Rowlands. 2nd row isn't exactly exuding quality but you would think the younger Welsh home grown players deserve a chance first.

 

[Scotty]

He must have had no contact or too many work ons by EJ and not liked his chances of getting an England spot. LRZ is welsh living in England and wants to represent Wales, where as tompkins is England u18s u20s world cup winner. So this seems to have come out of no where.

 

[dullonien]

Tompkins and Rowland are out of the blue. Had no idea either were eligible. Tompkins could be a great option in a problem position, he's looked class for Saracens whenever I've seen him play. Not seen much of Rowland, so can't comment. Our options at lock aren't great, with question marks still over Seb Davies, Adam Beard etc. so Pivac obviously wants to asses his options. Looks like Cory Hill and Seb Davies may have gametime in the backrow, because he's not selected many backrowers in his squad.

Still not convinced with Holmes either. Personally think there's better back 3 options in Steff Evans and Amos. Amos' injury has cost him more than likely, whilst Pivac has previous with Steff Evans. Great to see Owen Williams back too. Quality player who offers a lot at 12.

 

[MikeTheNative]

I think Ashton Hewitt is a bit unlucky not to feature but to be fair he has had a few injuries the past 12 months. How long can North keep getting away with just being average? Wales have a few inform back 3 players now he surely deserve their chance over North who blows hot and cold............ mostly cold these days. I think Shingler is in a similar position to Northm had a storming 2018 6 nations but has struggled with injuries and form since. Considering their's 3 players that can play 6 in the squad (Nvaidi, Wainwright & Moritary) and loads of 2nd rows, I'm a bit surprised he has made it.

 

[bushytop]

Considering that we've been hit fairly hard with injuries it's not a bad squad... despite some really surprising call ups. A couple of Dragons can feel pretty hard done by though... Basham and in particular Sam Davies have been brilliant this season but 'them's the brakes' I guess. Don't really know who could've been dropped to include Basham and although I'd pick Sam Davies ahead of Owen Williams at 10, Williams does offer cover at centre where we are particularly weak at the moment... so is probably the right call.

Nice to see Rob Evans back while a little gutted for Nicky Smith, crazy how the fortunes of these two (who were far and away our best Loose Heads before the World Cup) have gone lately. Excited to see some of WGJ at Tight Head too, heard loads of good stuff about him, so I hope he gets some game time. Overall I think that our options within the pack are looking pretty good and the forwards should go well.

I do think we will concede tries though. With our untried options at 13 (as well as Byron Hayward as Defence coach) I fear that everyone will be looking to exploit us in that channel in particular. Hopefully Pivac and Wellies can work enough magic in our attack to counter this though. There are some exciting players there, so it's possible but the coaching team are new and the players have been used to one way for so long that it could take a while to adapt.

Overall, I'm relatively pleased with the squad and can't wait til it all kicks off.

 

[Tooting Carmen]

I'm a little bit concerned with the high number of England-based players, given that this contradicts the aim in recent years of keeping as many Welsh players in Wales as possible for the regions to strengthen and grow. Nor is it even the case that they are really superior to their Welsh-based counterparts - Owen Williams over Sam Davies, jonah Holmes over Steff Evans etc.

 

[Tooting Carmen]

In any event, given all the injuries and the hideous form of the Ospreys, I predict Wales to have a mediocre 6N, coming third or fourth in the table behind England, Ireland and possibly France.

 

[Welsh Exile]

As I understand it Rowlands Dad is Welsh so there can't be any complaints there. WillGriff John was born in Plymouth but moved to Wales by the time he was 5 so spent pretty much his whole childhood in Wales so, again, there can't be any complaints there. Yeah Tompkins qualifies through a Granny but that's been a rule for years so I don't get the problem.

 

[oj121]

I was genuinely worried about 13 shirt but a midfield of O.Williams and Tomkins really isnt terrible at all! Should have pace and movement with an eye for a gap or a pass. With Adams and any one of 5 legitimate options in the back 3 hitting the space they create there are some scores in this team!

 

[bushytop]

I was genuinely worried about 13 shirt but a midfield of O.Williams and Tomkins really isnt terrible at all! Should have pace and movement with an eye for a gap or a pass. With Adams and any one of 5 legitimate options in the back 3 hitting the space they create there are some scores in this team!

As far as the back three goes, I know it's a bit early for him but 11. Rees-Zammit, 14. Adams & 15, Williams sounds pretty exciting to be fair. Can't see it happening yet though as I'd imagine LRZ will only get 10 minutes here or there at this stage.

I've only seen Tomkins play once or twice (in fairness one of those was that semi final against Northampton) and I'm still not convinced by Owen Williams. He has played very little rugby these last two years but we should get a better gauge on him over the next month with Cipriani's injury. Long term I really like the look of Ben Thomas at 12 from the Blues but he obviously isn't ready yet. I think that given Pivac's relationship with Hadleigh that he will continue his role there, with Watkins when he's fit... probably Tomkins until that point. Obviously if Tomkins tears up trees in the mean time he could lay down a marker and keep the shirt for a while. In fairness, I think we look pretty handy everywhere apart from the centres.

 

[bushytop]

I'm a little bit concerned with the high number of England-based players, given that this contradicts the aim in recent years of keeping as many Welsh players in Wales as possible for the regions to strengthen and grow. Nor is it even the case that they are really superior to their Welsh-based counterparts - Owen Williams over Sam Davies, jonah Holmes over Steff Evans etc.

I'm with you on both of those but can see Pivac's reasoning. I'm a really big Sam Davies fan and he's been very good this season but Williams can play centre at a time when we only have three (out and out) centres in the entire squad, one of whom is injured and the other has never played at this level. If the squad contained Jonathan Davies and maybe Watkins was at 100% I would definitely have gone with Sam Davies.

Steff Evans has also looked great this season but unfortunately for him Pivac doesn't like the look of him for some reason. He obviously came through at the Scarlets under Pivac but then he dropped him from the squad entirely at the start of last season. It's been suggested that it's Evans defence that is the reason but I've also heard that Pivac doesn't like his attitude. Either way, he does spark a team in attack and is always very busy around the park... imagine North if he popped up as much as Evans. Still, we have a lot of back three players who are ahead of Evans right now so it shouldn't effect us too much.

 

[MikeTheNative]

I agree the Williams over Davies is due to Centre cover, still not been that impressed with Holmes doesn't really stand out over people that he's been selected in front of. Nicky Smith is quite unlucky, being part of the dumpster fire that is Ospreys at the moment would have hindered him.