Gatland appoints two captains in Wales' World Cup squad
NEWS: Wales coach Warren Gatland has named two captains to lead his side in the World Cup in France in two weeks.
Jac Morgan and Dewi Lake will co-captain the side that will feature in Pool C with Fiji, Portugal, Australia and Georgia.
Gatland announced his squad of 33 players consisting of nine forwards and 14 backs. Seventeen players have previous World Cup experience.
Centre George North, Wales’ most-capped senior men’s back with 114 appearances, will compete in his fourth World Cup.
The Wales coach had a lot to think about after their slump against the Springboks over the weekend while the squad have also been hit with multiple injuries.
Alex Cuthbert, Dan Biggar and Liam Williams all pulled out of the South Africa match because of minor problems.
Hookers Dewi Lake and Ryan Elias, lock Dafydd Jenkins and back-row forward Taine Plumtree suffered injuries during Wales’ home and away appointments with England and are battling to be fit to face Fiji.
“We can only take 33 players and those we have selected we think offer a good combination in terms of talent and experience,” Gatland said during the announcement.
“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 squad
Forwards:
Taine Basham, Adam Beard, Elliot Dee, Corey Domachowski, Ryan Elias, Taulupe Faletau, Tomas Francis, Dafydd Jenkins, Dewi Lake, Dillon Lewis, Dan Lydiate, Jac Morgan, 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
