Tandy to trim Wales squad before Boks Nations Championship clash
NEWS: Wales head coach Steve Tandy says he will trim his squad for the upcoming Nations Championship early next week after assessing his players following their 33-31 victory over the Barbarians at Allianz Stadium.
The uncapped warm-up win was Wales’ final opportunity to impress before opening their campaign against Fiji in Cardiff next Saturday, followed by Tests against Argentina and world champions South Africa.
Tandy originally named a 48-man training squad, but injuries to Louie Hennessey, Keiron Assiratti and Liam Belcher have already reduced those numbers. He will now cut the group to between 32 and 34 players.
“It’ll be done over the next few days,” Tandy said.
“We’ll make sure we get everything through the physios now, see how the boys are and make sure everyone pulls up after the game.”
The Wales coach will also welcome 12 players based in England and France who were unavailable for the Barbarians fixture because it fell outside World Rugby’s international release window.
Among those returning are lock Dafydd Jenkins, scrumhalf Tomos Williams, props Nicky Smith and Rhys Carre, and back Louis Rees-Zammit.
“We’ll see how they are and look back at the game as well because there will be some tight calls to go on tour,” Tandy said.
“The competition gets a little bit higher and we’ve got to continue to do that.”
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