Wales regroup after Boks defeat

SQUAD ANNOUNCEMENT: Wales head coach Waren Gatland has confirmed the 34-player squad that will travel to Australia on June 26.

At the back of a 13-41 defeat to the Springboks, Wales will head to Australia to play two Test matches against the Wallabies in Sydney and Melbourne, as well as a fixture against the Queensland Reds in Brisbane.

Dewi Lake will captain the 597-cap squad for the tour.

Three uncapped players are listed among the 19 forwards and 15 backs named: hooker Efan Daniel (Cardiff) plus wings Regan Grace (Bath) and Josh Hathaway (Gloucester).

Keiron Assiratti and Elliot Dee have been ruled out of the trip down under, Assiratti due to a back injury and Dee after failing to recover from an ankle injury sustained prior to Wales camp. Henry Thomas also misses out on selection as he continues to recover from a foot injury.

Gatland said: “I’m excited about this Wales squad. We know Australia is a tough place to go and play rugby, but we are relishing the challenge.

“We’re expecting two fiercely contested Test matches down under and are also pleased to be able to play a third fixture against the Queensland Reds.

“We are focusing on getting better as a group. This is a young squad that’s still learning at this level. There are lots of positives and good things that we can build on from the weekend and there are also areas that we will be working hard to address over the next few weeks.”

Wales 34-man squad:

Forwards: Corey Domachowski, Kemsley Mathias, Gareth Thomas, Efan Daniel, Dewi Lake, Evan Lloyd, Archie Griffin, Dillon Lewis, Harri O’Connor, Ben Carter, Cory Hill, Dafydd Jenkins, Matthew Screech, Christ Tshiunza, James Botham, Mackenzie Martin, Taine Plumtree, Tommy Reffell, Aaron Wainwright

Backs: Ellis Bevan, Gareth Davies, Kieran Hardy, Sam Costelow, Mason Grady, Eddie James, Ben Thomas, Nick Tompkins, Owen Watkin, Rio Dyer, Regan Grace, Josh Hathaway, Liam Williams, Jacob Beetham, Cameron Winnett