Every Word Gatland Has Said About His Wales Six Nations Squad



Rhodri Evans

Warren Gatland has thrown some curve balls with regards to his squad selection for Wales’s 2025 Six Nations campaign.

Jac Morgan captains the 34-man group, with uncapped backs Dan Edwards and Ellis Mee receiving their first call-ups.

There are recalls for Taulupe Faletau, Josh Adams, Elliot Dee, Dafydd Jenkins, Joe Roberts, Sam Parry and WillGriff John, while Gareth Anscombe, Max Llewellyn, Taine Plumtree, Rio Dyer, and Cam Winnett miss out.

Here is every word Gatland said to the media following the announcement of the group:

Dan Edwards’ first call-up

“We’ve been impressed with him. We were hoping to have him in, in the autumn. We’ve been impressed with how he’s played. He’s matured and looks a quality 10.

“For us, it’s the one position where we’ve spoken about developing some depth. Someone like him gets an opportunity to stake a claim. We’ve been impressed with how he’s controlled games. His kicking game has improved.”

Ellis Mee

“He’s pretty exciting. He’s got a good presence. He’s good aerially. He’s an option at full-back going forward. The back-three has been a concern for us with depth. We’ve got more options with Josh Adams back.”

Experienced Returnees

“That’s the positive for us. Dafydd Jenkins is back too with his energy and enthusiasm. It’s probably the first time in a while we’ve had some dilemmas around the selection.”

Gloucester Centre Max Llewellyn Missing Out

“He’s pretty unlucky in terms of that. For us, there’s a lot of quality 12s around. 13 is the one position we haven’t got depth.

“With Joe being there as an option with the left foot, we’ll see how he’ll go. We were limited a bit. We were going to pick 33, but we picked 34 as we’re going to France for a week for a camp.

“He’s been spoken to in terms of that. For him, there’s probably an opportunity to get more touches and get his hands on the ball. He didn’t have any touches against South Africa.

“He’s got to continue doing what he’s doing. There was a long discussion about midfield and getting experience in there, trying to get a real balance in the team.”

Gareth Anscombe Not In

“That was a big point. We’ve spoken about 10 being the position to develop some depth, looking short term and long term. Getting some experience in the position.

“He’s 33 now and he’ll be 36 by the next World Cup. Will he be around? We need to develop some depth.”

Is your job on the line?

“Absolutely. There’s been a lot of discussion and debate about that. I’m pretty aware of that. We’ve got to go out and work hard.”

Cam Winnett and Taine Plumtree missing out

“When we were limited on numbers, how did we get the balance right? Taine’s a bit unlucky as we went with five second-rows and five back-rows.

“We were a bit compromised with players playing outside of Wales. Some players have to go back to their clubs. We probably need to look at bringing in one or two local players to bolster us in fallow weeks, particularly in the lock position.”

Elliot Dee Returns

“We thought Elliot was good yesterday. He had some good touches. For someone who hasn’t played for a while, he brings experience. We’ve lost some experience with Ryan and Dewi. Over the next couple of years, we’ve lost some depth but some youngsters will come through.”

Captain Jac Morgan

“I think that Jac was one of the captains in the World Cup and captains the Ospreys. Daf did a good job. The three players we’ve used in that role are all young men with a lot of potential. Any one of those three could do a job for us.”

Potential Coaching Changes

“We’ll probably make an announcement later in the week, on some individuals and support staff coming in.”


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