Freddie Thomas, the Gloucester lock who has represented England at both under-18 and under-20 level, is one of two uncapped players named in Wales’ squad for the upcoming autumn internationals.
Thomas, who was born in Gloucester and attended Dean Close School in Cheltenham, has started four Premiership matches at lock so far this season but is included in Warren Gatland’s 35-player squad, qualifying for Wales through his grandparents from Swansea. The 22-year-old has been selected alongside the uncapped Blair Murray, the New Zealand-born Scarlets wing who qualifies through his mother.
Nicky Smith will challenge for a first cap since Wales’s victory over Georgia at last year’s World Cup after his summer move from Ospreys to Leicester. Smith has been one of the signings of the Premiership season so far, with Tigers especially impressed with the loosehead’s physical development under new head of strength and conditioning Matt Parr.
Alongside Smith, Gloucester fly-half Gareth Anscombe and Dragons scrum-half Rhodri Williams both return to the squad, with the 31-year-old Williams selected more than 10 years since his last Wales cap, after the retirement of Gareth Davies last week. Max Llewellyn, a club team-mate of Anscombe and Thomas, is recalled after his hat-trick in Gloucester’s loss at Leicester on Sunday.
Gatland has taken a keen interest in his Kingsholm contingent – five of this 35-player squad – and was spotted in the stands alongside technical coach Rob Howley as Gloucester recorded their only victory so far this season, defeating Bristol in a thrilling 85-point match at Ashton Gate last month.
Adam Beard, Ryan Elias, Jac Morgan, Will Rowlands, Henry Thomas and Tomos Williams return to the squad having missed the Tests in Australia last summer due to injury or being rested. Dewi Lake will continue captaincy duties after the Test series whitewash to the Wallabies, while Aaron Wainwright is preferred on the back row to the likes of Mackenzie Martin and Taine Basham despite not having featured for the Dragons this season because of an ongoing hamstring injury.
“We feel this is an exciting squad with some experience coming back to join the younger players. We know they are going to work incredibly hard as a group this November.
Regarding the captaincy, Gatland added: “I thought Dewi did a really good job with the captaincy over the summer, so we’ve decided for him to continue in the role this autumn.”
High-profile omissions include scrum-half Kieran Hardy and prop duo Corey Domachowski and Dillon Lewis, while Exeter’s Dafydd Jenkins, Josh Adams, Liam Williams and Taulupe Faletau all miss out through injury.
Wales face Fiji, Australia and South Africa at the Principality Stadium on consecutive weekends throughout the autumn, beginning on November 10 against the Pacific Islanders.