Wales ‘delighted’ as player last capped in 2022 answers SOS and Dewi Lake talks up ‘hostility’ of taking on England away
Sam Wainwright has answered the Wales SOS and has joined a squad skippered by Dewi Lake, inset
Wales have called up a prop to their Six Nations squad who was last capped four years ago under Wayne Pivac.
Sam Wainwright packed down in the 13-12 defeat to Georgia in November 2022 that effectively marked the end of the Pivac era in charge of the Welsh.
The four-cap tighthead never got a recall under Pivac’s successor Warren Gatland, but current Wales boss Steve Tandy has now issued an SOS after overlooking Wainwright when last week naming his 38-man squad for the 2026 Six Nations that starts with the February 7 trip to England.
Keiron Assiratti, Archie Griffin and the recalled Tomas Francis, who was last used at Rugby World Cup 2023, were selected at Tandy’s options at No.3.
“Obviously disappointing for Keiron…”
However, with training now underway at their Vale of Glamorgan base, Wainwright had been called in from the Test wilderness following last Saturday’s injury to his Cardiff colleague Assiratti, who sustained a calf injury in their United Rugby Championship win over Benetton.
Assiratti was replaced in the second half of that URC match by Scottish prop Javan Sebastian, but the watching on Wainwright has now been called up by Wales despite starting in just two of his seven Cardiff appearances this season following his summer transfer from the Scarlets.
Wainwright, the 27-year-old who featured for Saracens and Ampthill in England before switching to Parc y Scarlets, debuted away to the Springboks on Wales’ 2022 tour, but Pivac’s abrupt exit later that year was the end of the prop’s Test-level involvement until now.
“It’s obviously disappointing for Keiron, but that gives an opportunity for Sam and we’re delighted for him to join the group,” explained Tandy, who took charge for the first time for the recent Autumn Nations Series that culminated in a 73-0 trouncing to South Africa on the back of other defeats to Argentina and New Zealand and a last-gasp win over Japan.
Wales’ 2026 Six Nations: Squad, fixtures, referees, TV channels, kick-off times and more
Despite those results, skipper Dewi Lake is optimistic that the new coaching ticket under Tandy has re-energised a squad that Gatland stepped away from last February, leaving current assistant Matt Sherratt to take charge on an interim basis until Tandy’s arrival from Scotland, where he worked as defence coach to Gregor Townsend.
“I’m feeling great with the new coaching set-up and the new faces,” insisted Lake at Monday’s Six Nations launch. “It has been a breath of fresh air for us as a group.
“It has brought a real sense of change, and the passion and energy the new coaching staff have brought has filtered down into the players and the environment. We are excited to get started. The level of detail the coaches bring is only going to make us better as players, and it will drive performances on the field as well.
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“It’s unbelievable, Wales against England away from home as a first fixture. The hostility you face from the crowd, even arriving on the bus, is something special. That rivalry is still as big as ever, and it is a great game for us to target.
“Everybody knows how important momentum is in this competition. A strong performance in game one against Italy and that momentum could soon be on your side going into the first three fixtures before the break.”
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Lake, who is joining Gloucester next season, is happy that the start of the Six Nations will allow the squad the opportunity to change the focus away from the controversies of the regional game, where the future is looking bleak for his Ospreys following last week’s WRU revelation that Y11, the club’s owners, are the preferred bidders to take over Cardiff.
“That is what this competition gives us, the chance to focus our attention on Test match rugby. Ultimately, it allows us to focus on what we all want to be doing with our time anyway, which is playing rugby,” he said.
“It is easy for me to talk about rugby, and a lot harder when there is other stuff going on off the field. Getting into this competition and being able to focus on England first up will be a breath of fresh air for everyone, and it will allow us all to really lock in on that.”
