Wales announces a strong 47 man Rugby World Cup Training Squad which comprises of 25 forwards and 22 Backs. The 47 man initial squad will be heading off shortly to four training camps, starting off in the mountains of Switzerland, Qatar, Poland and North Wales.
Players have already been warned to come with the right attitude because the training will be intense.
With a deal being struck with the Premiership Rugby over the insurance of English based Welsh players it has allowed the clubs to release them for the training camps and warm up games.
The training squad includes 12 dual contract players, four uncapped players. The squad is made up of Cardiff Blues eight players, Newport Dragons four players, Ospreys 12 players, Scarlets nine players, French based players four and finally English based players 10.
The Welsh selectors has gone for a mixture of experience and youth with a few surprises thrown in. To name but a few English based players, Exeter’s wing Tom James, Gloucester’s outside half James Hook and Gloucester’s Ross Moriarty. He also picked handful of uncapped players including Gwent Dragons pair Jack Dixon and Tyler Morgan and Ospreys wing Eli Walker.
However we will see experienced players traing hard to keep the youngsters at bay, while 105 capped prop Cardiff Blues, Gethin Jenkins will be working hard to impress Warren Gatland to get picked for his fourth Rugby World Cup Tournament
It is nice to see that Warren Gatland did not stick to his law which basicly states that “no players will be selected if they play outside Wales.”
This is a pointless “law” for Wales, as we have not got a wide pool of players to choose from, therefore when you have a talented player who’s eligible for Wales surely that is all that matters and not what country he his playing his rugby in.
I am sure Warren Gatland and the other selectors have already selected their core team but there are a number of places that will be up for grabs in that final 31 man squad. However, the Training squad will have an intense two months training and conditioning before Warren Gatland will pick the final RWC 2015 31 man squad.
Itinerary of the Welsh Training Squad 2015
June
15th Starting at the WRU National Centre of Excellence
July
1st-15th Intensive training camp – Switzerland
20th – 29th Bespoke Training – Doha, Qatar
August
8th Ireland (first warm up game) at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
3 day training – North Wales
16th Further Training – Spala, Poland
29th Ireland (second warm up game) – Avvia stadium, Ireland
31st Final 31 World Cup Squad Announced
September
5th Italy, (final warm up game) Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
In my opinion the warm up games offers nothing more than opportunity to make even more money for the union’s accounts to swell.
The players should be going into the Rugby World Cup in peak fitness hence the need for all the training camps and not battling it out in pointless warm up games. After all is said and done it is not the rugby union’s board members dreams being taken from them if a player gets injured?
In conclusion, Wales has a very strong training squad that is brimming with talent, strength and mobility. After all is said and done let’s hope the correct players are chosen and not because they are on dual contracts.
Questions will be answered on the August the 31st when the final team is selected. I have no doubt though that Warren Gatland will throw a curve ball in when they sit down to announce the final World Cup Squad.
Wales 2015 Rugby World Cup Training Squad
Backs: Gareth Davies (Scarlets), Mike Phillips (Racing Metro), Rhys Webb (Ospreys), Lloyd Williams (Cardiff Blues), Gareth Anscombe (Cardiff Blues), Dan Biggar (Ospreys), James Hook (Gloucester Rugby), Matthew Morgan (Bristol Rugby), Rhys Patchell (Cardiff Blues), Rhys Priestland (Scarlets), Cory Allen (Cardiff Blues), Jack Dixon (Newport Gwent Dragons), Tyler Morgan (Newport Gwent Dragons), Jamie Roberts (Racing Metro), Scott Williams (Scarlets), Hallam Amos (Newport Gwent Dragons), Alex Cuthbert (Cardiff Blues), Leigh Halfpenny (Toulon), Tom James (Exeter Chiefs), George North (Northampton Saints), Eli Walker (Ospreys), Liam Williams (Scarlets).
Forwards: Rob Evans (Scarlets), Tomas Francis (Exeter Chiefs), Paul James (Bath Rugby), Aaron Jarvis (Ospreys), Gethin Jenkins (Cardiff Blues), Rhodri Jones (Scarlets), Samson Lee (Scarlets), Nicky Smith (Ospreys), Scott Baldwin (Ospreys), Kristian Dacey (Cardiff Blues), Richard Hibbard (Gloucester Rugby), Ken Owens (Scarlets), Jake Ball (Scarlets), Luke Charteris (Racing Metro), Dominic Day (Bath Rugby), Bradley Davies (Wasps), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys), Rory Thornton (Ospreys), Dan Baker (Ospreys), Taulupe Faletau (Newport Gwent Dragons), James King (Ospreys), Dan Lydiate (Ospreys), Ross Moriarty (Gloucester Rugby), Justin Tipuric (Ospreys), Sam Warburton (Cardiff Blues, capt).
Main Photo
