Warren Gatland names Wales’ Rugby World Cup squad with Dewi Lake and Jac Morgan appointed as co-captains

Wales head coach Warren Gatland has announced his 33-man squad for the upcoming Rugby World Cup in France, with Dewi Lake and Jac Morgan appointed as co-captains.

Gatland’s squad consists of 19 forwards and 14 backs and has an average age of 27.

17 of the players have previous Rugby World Cup experience but there is no place in the group for Taine Plumtree, Alex Cuthbert and Kieran Hardy.

Fourth World Cup for George North

Meanwhile, Wales’ most-capped senior men’s back with 114 appearances, utility back George North, will compete in his fourth Rugby World Cup.

Fly-half Dan Biggar, Wales’ second most-capped back behind North with 109 appearances, scrum-half Gareth Davies, tighthead prop Tomas Francis, blindside flanker Dan Lydiate and full-backs Leigh Halfpenny and Liam Williams are all set to compete in their third Rugby World Cup.

Loosehead prop Corey Domachowski (Cardiff) and tighthead prop Henry Thomas (Montpellier) have been included in the group after winning their first senior Welsh caps during the Rugby World Cup warm-up matches earlier this month.

Meanwhile, 20-year-old Exeter Chiefs second-row Dafydd Jenkins is the youngest member of the squad.

“The toughest part of the job is always selection and this is particularly the case when it comes to picking a Rugby World Cup squad,” said Gatland.

“Over the past three months the whole group of 48 players in the wider training squad has been outstanding in terms of attitude and effort, so having to reduce the squad down to the final 33 has been really hard and there have been some close final decisions in the last 36 hours.

“But we can only take 33 players and those we have selected we think offer a good combination in terms of talent and experience.

“We have a few more training sessions here in Wales before we depart for France on 3 September and we cannot wait to get out there and get started in this tournament. We look forward to what lies ahead for this group.

“This will be a very proud moment for these players, their families and friends and I’d like to congratulate them all on the achievement.”

Wales have been drawn in Pool C alongside Fiji, Australia, Portugal and Georgia. They kick off their campaign against Fiji in Bordeaux on Saturday, September 10.

Wales’ Rugby World Cup squad

Forwards: Taine Basham, Adam Beard, Elliot Dee, Corey Domachowski, Ryan Elias, Taulupe Faletau, Tomas Francis, Dafydd Jenkins, Dewi Lake (cc), Dillon Lewis, Dan Lydiate, Jac Morgan (cc), Tommy Reffell, Will Rowlands, Nicky Smith, Gareth Thomas, Henry Thomas, Christ Tshiunza, Aaron Wainwright

Backs: Josh Adams, Gareth Anscombe, Dan Biggar, Sam Costelow, Gareth Davies, Rio Dyer, Mason Grady, Leigh Halfpenny, George North, Louis Rees-Zammit, Nick Tompkins, Johnny Williams, Liam Williams, Tomos Williams

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