By Ryan Moran
- Squad of 38 has been trimmed to 31 on the deadline for RWC selection
- Three injured players included in final 31.
- Wales in Pool A for Rugby World Cup with England.
As Warren Gatland trims his squad for a second time this summer, the final 31 man squad has been revealed on the day of the selection deadline.
A surprise exclusion from the squad was fly half Gareth Anscombe, his place was put into doubt after an ankle injury in training after the warm up match against Ireland. Matthew Morgan is the beneficiary of Anscombe’s situation, taking his place as one of three fly halves with Dan Biggar and Rhys Priestland.
Some may call it a gamble by Warren Gatland to include Samson Lee in his five props. The Welshman has not played since winning 23-16 over Ireland in the Six Nations all the way back in March of this year. Gatland came out in the press to explain his decision to take recovering Lee but not Anscombe who could have also been fit by the Uruguay game.
Another injured playerto be selected was back row Alun Wyn Jones who is set to miss the World Cup opener because of a knee injury. Add Liam Williams to the injury list to also be included in the final list who has a foot injury and Wales may be thin on the ground for the first game if any more injuries were to arise.
Other players who didn’t make the squad include Rob Evans and Scott Andrews at prop, hooker Kristian Dacey, flanker Ross Moriarty as well as Tyler Morgan and Eli Walker at centre.
The whole 31 man squad is as shown below:
Props: Tomas Francis, Paul James, Aaron Jarvis, Gethin Jenkins, Samson Lee.
Hookers: Scott Baldwin, Ken Owens.
Locks: Jake Ball, Luke Charteris, Dominic Day, Bradley Davies, Alun Wyn Jones.
Back-rows: Taulupe Faletau, James King, Dan Lydiate, Justin Tipuric, Sam Warburton (Captain).
Scrum-halves: Gareth Davies, Rhys Webb, Lloyd Williams.
Fly-halves: Dan Biggar, Matthew Morgan, Rhys Priestland.
Centres: Cory Allen, Jamie Roberts, Scott Williams.
Wings: Hallam Amos, Alex Cuthbert, George North.
Full-backs: Leigh Halfpenny, Liam Williams.
The World Cup kicks off on Friday 18th September when England face Fiji at Twickenham.
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