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Dafydd Jenkins to captain Wales as squad named after shock LRZ news
Warren Gatland has named Exeter Chiefs lock Dafydd Jenkins as his new Wales captain for this year’s Guinness Six Nations, in what is a young squad.
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The 21-year-old will be the second-youngest player to captain Wales, and he will lead a squad with five uncapped players (Alex Mann, Mackenzie Martin, Evan Lloyd, Cameron Winnett and Archie Griffin), which has an average age of 25.
After a raft of experienced players retired from Test rugby in 2023, this focus of this Championship was always going to be to blood a new generation of players into the squad. That is why, on top of the five uncapped players, there is a further eleven that have fewer than ten caps.
With World Cup co-captains Jac Morgan and Dewi Lake injured, Gatland has again opted for another young captain. That is not unlike the Kiwi though, who made Sam Warburton the captain of Wales at the age of 22. At the age of 21, Jenkins is set usurp Warburton’s record of being the second-youngest Wales captain, with only Gareth Edwards, who captained Wales at 20, beating him.
The squad was announced just minutes after winger Louis Rees-Zammit confirmed that he will quit rugby with immediate effect to join the NFL International Player Pathway (IPP).
Another noticeable exclusion is Exeter Chiefs’ Cardiff-born winger Immanuel Feyi-Waboso after weeks of speculation over whether he will represent Wales or England. His exclusion all but confirms his place in Steve Borthwick’s England squad, which will be announced tomorrow.
After naming his squad, Gatland said: “There’s a little bit of experience in terms of players like George North and Gareth Davies – we wanted a little bit of continuity with that and we’re also thinking about the next RWC cycle and giving some youngsters an opportunity, some youngsters that are not featuring regularly for their club sides.
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“I’m really excited about those youngsters and that opportunity to develop them over the next four years. The average age of the squad is about 25 compared to a little bit older during RWC and then you look at this next cycle and you want to get those players to mid to late 20s in terms of experience and age.
“What I’ve learned in the past is that even though we’ve done all that hard work in terms of preparation and build up to the RWC. For me it’s about going back the start a little bit, going back to honing the basics and hammering away at that and almost like starting again. You have to reset in terms of our goals and what we want to achieve. I think Scotland at home is a good game for us, they’re a quality side, they’ll be disappointed with what happened with them in terms of not getting out of the pool at the world cup.
“For us it’s a great game to start at home with a full crowd, packed stadium, exactly what you want under a bit of pressure. If you can get off to a good start and win your opening game then it gives you an opportunity to go further in the tournament.
“This first game is incredibly important to us and those first two weeks in terms of putting in the hard word and bringing the squad together. I hope people can see that what we’re trying to do with the team is to develop some of these youngsters to help support the regions I think that’s really, really important in terms of us working together as a collective going forward – developing the young players but also preparing for a good Six Nations and for the future.”
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Wales’ 34-player squad
Forwards (19)
Corey Domachowski (Cardiff Rugby / Caerdydd – 6 caps)
Kemsley Mathias (Scarlets – 1 cap)
Gareth Thomas (Ospreys / Gweilch – 26 caps)
Elliot Dee (Dragons / Dreigiau – 46 caps)
Ryan Elias (Scarlets – 38 caps)
Evan Lloyd (Cardiff Rugby – uncapped / heb gap)
Keiron Assiratti (Cardiff Rugby / Caerdydd – 2 caps)
Leon Brown (Dragons / Dreigiau – 23 caps)
Archie Griffin (Bath Rugby – uncapped / heb gap)
Adam Beard (Ospreys / Gweilch – 51 caps)
Dafydd Jenkins (Exeter Chiefs / Caerwysg – 12 caps)
Will Rowlands (Racing 92 – 29 caps)
Teddy Williams (Cardiff Rugby / Caerdydd – 1 cap)
Taine Basham (Dragons / Dreigiau – 16 caps)
James Botham (Cardiff Rugby / Caerdydd – 9 caps)
Alex Mann (Cardiff Rugby / Caerdydd – uncapped / heb gap)
Mackenzie Martin (Cardiff Rugby / Caerdydd – uncapped / heb gap)
Tommy Reffell (Leicester Tigers / Caerlr – 13 caps)
Aaron Wainwright (Dragons / Dreigiau – 43 caps)
Backs (15)
Gareth Davies (Scarlets – 74 caps)
Kieran Hardy (Scarlets – 18 caps)
Tomos Williams (Cardiff Rugby / Caerdydd – 53 caps)
Sam Costelow (Scarlets – 8 caps)
Cai Evans (Dragons / Dreigiau – 1 cap)
Ioan Lloyd (Scarlets – 2 caps)
Mason Grady (Cardiff Rugby / Caerdydd – 6 caps)
George North (Ospreys / Gweilch – 118 caps)
Joe Roberts (Scarlets – 1 cap)
Nick Tompkins (Saracens / Saraseniaid – 32 caps)
Owen Watkin (Ospreys / Gweilch – 36 caps)
Josh Adams (Cardiff Rugby / Caerdydd – 53 caps)
Rio Dyer (Dragons / Dreigiau – 14 caps)
Tom Rogers (Scarlets – 3 caps)
Cameron Winnett (Cardiff Rugby / Caerdydd – uncapped / heb gap)
Comments on RugbyPass
It’s going to be Scott Barrett. He’s the coaches mate and captain of a previously elite team. Ardie a great option but scooter has worked with the coach and Ardie still as big a leader as needed.
22 Go to commentsI commend Colin Scotts bio All Balls. He was the first Aussie to make it to NFL. But he was poached and did a full apprenticeship at the University of Hawaii. He was 130kgs surfed played 1st grade cricket etc. big guy by normal but not NFL standards and a top athlete. Even then the nfl were picking up Tongans and Samoans for their natural size and explosive power. They want explosive power not cardio from the big boys so a guy like Taniela Tupou would have been good if picked up young enough. He has fast twitch and they’d bulk the little lad up and give him something to do. soccer teams set up academies and look for Over Sara’s talent eg Messi was at Barcelona since a teenager and harry kewell went to Leeds as a teenager like 16 or something.
11 Go to commentsThe article alludes to the fact that this isn’t about picking a captain. But picking a great captain. So who would make for a great All Black captain - not just an obvious or safe shoo-in? I’m not sure Ardie’s the guy and Barret doesn’t stand out either.
22 Go to commentsI guess we may all agree on the fact, that the ABs and Boks are the two in contest for No 1 in rugby history (the triple-A sort of) …. the Wallabies, England and France are the next tier, with Ireland being the new kid in town (AA) …. in my view it makes little sense creating imaginary competitions (unless you have too much time to waste)
45 Go to commentsWhat a joke. Total joke and the pundits commentating, all of whom know a bit about the game, could barely disguise their contempt. Reaching for the card then pulling back when he realised a red card would carry further match suspensions is simply not his decision to make. A clear and obvious influence on the outcome of this match and indeed, the championship path.
4 Go to commentsI like the idea, in NZ the Ranfurly Shield and NPC coexist, both having their own bragging rights. The World Cup would be the pinnacle, but the competition and travels of these trophies would be interesting.
45 Go to commentsDon’t worry Sonny bill Williams leave that awkward situation about the curfew in the pass whoever it was it doesn’t matter its no big deal we back our All Blacks through the storm and the thunder until we see the Sun light again.
42 Go to commentsWho listens to this retard? He was a massive liability as a player but obviously a media sensation
42 Go to commentsI’m not surprised by such ‘virtue signalling’ by Sonny Boy. Butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. He’s such a pious Islamic muppet, imo.
42 Go to commentsI’ve actually never heard of the guy (then I don’t watch League as it is boring). But if he is good enough.. then good luck to him. If not, well, he can always return to league.
2 Go to commentsIt is pretty clear that by almost any measure that NZ are a more successful rugby nation than South Africa. Quite aside from the distasteful events during the last RWC final. NZ lead SA in all significant measurements.
45 Go to commentsDickson went to his pocket for a card, saw who it was, changed his mind and spoke at length to TMO. One angle clearly shows Care diving over a Saints player to kill the ball. 1st yellow, reason given for not Red was player was falling backwards. He was only falling backwards after contact with Lawes. Graham try should have stood. Mitchell did not have both hands on the ball, ball went forward from a Saints boot dragging over it. 2 intentional knock-on's. One of which had an overlap on the outside. If Quins are happy to win by intentional foul play, then it does not say much for them. Would appear to be a bad day for Karl Dickson, also for the RFU in appointing a Ref who spent 8 years as a player at one of the clubs.
4 Go to commentsLet’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
7 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
2 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
7 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to comments