Wales have announced a 54-player squad that includes uncapped prop Henry Thomas, but there is no place for Exeter-bound centre Joe Hawkins.
Former Sale Sharks and Bath tighthead Thomas currently plies his trade for Montpellier and is included in Warren Gatland’s group for the sessions.
Meanwhile, Hawkins‘ absence is noteworthy as there was uncertainty as to whether his looming move to Exeter would make him ineligible for Wales.
That looks to have been true as the promising 20-year-old misses out, with Mason Grady, Max Llewellyn, George North, Joe Roberts, Nick Tompkins, Johnny Williams and Keiran Williams picked as the midfield options available to Gatland in the camp.
Will Rowlands back in the Wales fold
Second-row Will Rowlands has also been named. The lock, who left the Dragons for Paris-based Racing 92 in December, has won 23 caps and could reach the qualifying mark of 25 in pre-Rugby World Cup friendlies against England and South Africa.
Cory Hill is another to have been called up following the recent change in the selection criteria on exiled players.
The 31-year-old lock earned his last Wales cap in 2021 and currently plays his rugby for Yokohama Canon Eagles in Japan.
However, there was no room for Scarlets prop Wyn Jones or Ospreys centre Owen Watkin in the squad.
Players will start to come in for training sessions with Wales on a rolling basis from May 25, with entry into camp depending on when an individual’s club season has ended.
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In addition to sessions at the National Centre of Excellence in Hensol, Wales will travel to Switzerland and Turkey in July for specialist training camps. The squad size will be reduced ahead of each trip.
Gatland on Henry Thomas: "We’ve spoken to him years ago. He probably brings something different. The big focus for us is on the tight-five. We need that athleticism and mobility that we need to improve.”
— Simon Thomas (@simonrug) May 1, 2023
Wales then have three warm-up Test matches against England (home and away on August 5 and 12) and South Africa (August 19 at Principality Stadium) before the official 33-player squad to head to Rugby World Cup 2023 in France is named.
Gatland said: “We’ve picked a large squad for a number of reasons. We will reduce the squad to about 45 before we go to Switzerland so there’s a bit of jeopardy in the first part of the campaign.
“It’s a great opportunity for some players that were involved in the Six Nations and some youngsters for the future to show us what they are capable of doing in the first part of the preparation.
Message from Gatland pre-camp
“In the past we’ve prided ourselves on how hard we’ve worked and how fit the squad has been. So that’s the message to the players to come in and make a statement, work really hard, make the coaches sit up and take notice and get yourself in great shape physically.
“A lot of skill work needs to be done and there’s an opportunity to work on the detail you often don’t get when you go into Six Nations or Autumn campaigns when you have limited preparation time.”
Wales preliminary training squad for Rugby World Cup 2023
Forwards: Rhys Carre, Corey Domachowski, Kemsley Mathias, Nicky Smith, Gareth Thomas, Eliott Dee, Ryan Elias, Dewi Lake, Ken Owens, Keiron Assiratti, Tomas Francis, Will Davies-King, Dillon Lewis, Henry Thomas, Adam Beard, Ben Carter, Rhys Davies, Cory Hill, Dafydd Jenkins, Alun Wyn Jones, Will Rowlands, Christ Tshiunza, Teddy Williams, Taine Basham, Taulupe Faletau, Dan Lydiate, Josh Macleod, Jac Morgan, Tommy Reffell, Justin Tipuric, Aaron Wainwright
Backs: Gareth Davies, Kieran Hardy, Rhys Webb, Tomos Williams, Gareth Anscombe, Dan Biggar, Sam Costelow, Owen Williams, Mason Grady, Max Llewellyn, George North, Joe Roberts, Nick Tompkins, Johnny Williams, Keiran Williams, Josh Adams, Alex Cuthbert, Rio Dyer, Cai Evans, Leigh Halfpenny, Louis Rees-Zammit, Tom Rogers, Liam Williams