Wales announced their final World Cup Squad today, for the remaining game in their Summer International Series. It’s a tough call now who to risk with some areas, like hooker and centre, a little short of cover and other players that Wales really need fully fit and firing come the opening game on September 20th.
Following the victory in Ireland on Saturday, Warren Gatland admitted he would like to hold back some of his key players and has even considered playing some of those cut from the final squad. So it was something of a surprise, in some ways, to see a strong squad named today.
Strong Squad Named for Wales vs Italy
There are some players who have been rested – Jamie Roberts took a heavy blow to the ribs last time, so an opportunity has been given to Cory Allen to get some game time. Up front, Captain Sam Warburton gets his first run-out on the open-side, with James King replacing Dan Lydiate. In the second row, Jake Ball and Dominic Day form a new partnership with the front row remaining the same.
On the bench, there are two players who didn’t make the Final 31, in Kristian Dacey and Ross Moriarty. Matthew Morgan and Gareth Davies will also most likely get an opportunity at some stage too.
It’s sometimes hard to guess what this coaching team will do in terms of selection, but this is an exciting group of players to end this run of three games. Of course, there will be some pressure to perform following last week’s excellent showing. But the consistency in selection has offered this team a chance to keep the momentum going.
There certainly isn’t the same strain on this team as others playing this weekend to come away with a result, but as Gatland commented when the squad was announced, “With our opening Rugby World Cup fixture just two weeks away, this weekend is an important run-out and opportunity for fine tuning.”
It’s fairly obvious that Wales are in a pretty good place right now, and with that there will be an expectation to sign off with a win, and some points too. This is the last opportunity before the real action starts and one that Wales really need to grasp with both hands.
Wales team to face Italy: L Halfpenny (Toulon); A Cuthbert (Cardiff Blues), C Allen (Cardiff Blues), S Williams (Scarlets), G North (Northampton Saints); D Biggar (Ospreys), R Webb (Ospreys); G Jenkins (Cardiff Blues), K Owens (Scarlets), T Francis (Exeter Chiefs); J Ball (Scarlets), D Day (Bath); J King (Ospreys), S Warburton (Cardiff Blues), T Faletau (Newport Gwent Dragons).
Reps: K Dacey (Cardiff Blues), P James (Bath), A Jarvis (Ospreys), L Charteris (Racing Metro), R Moriarty (Gloucester), G Davies (Scarlets), R Priestland (Bath), M Morgan (Bristol).
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