With Steve Tandy set to name his first Wales squad since his appointment as head coach, Sportin Wales predicts who will be a part of it.

There are a number of complicating factors with naming a squad, the most obvious of which is that we have no prior knowledge of Tandy’s preferences in selecting an international group.

The other major impact is that Wales face the double world champions South Africa in their final match of the November break, with the match falling outside the international window. The upshot of this is Tandy will be without their non-Wales based players for their toughest match.

With that in mind, Sportin Wales predicts that the Wales will have a larger squad than usual, with around 38 players selected, including eight props.

Looseheads

Tandy’s first two looseheads pick themselves: Gareth Thomas has been solid for Wales and Ospreys are a while now, and Nicky Smith is the best Welsh prop this season. His try scoring performance against Premiership champions Bath in which he played the full 80 minutes was outstanding.

With Smith only available for the first three matches, Tandy will need to call upon a Wales-based loosehead to cover for him. Wyn Jones is back and playing consistently for Dragons, but we think Danny Southworth may get the chance to impress.

Southworth qualifies for Wales through his grandmother and has caught the eye since his move to Cardiff from Exeter at the start of last season.

The other wildcard option would be to pick Rhys Carré. Despite not qualifying for the 25-cap rule, Carré has a profile as a carrier that Wales severely lack in their front row. Only Dewi Lake has the ability to consistently get over the gainline that the Saracens prop possesses. It would be a surprise, but with a larger squad than usual, Tandy should reintegrate him.

Wales Looseheads: Gareth Thomas, Nicky Smith, Danny Southworth, Rhys Carré.

Hookers

Dewi Lake will be the starting Welsh hooker this autumn, but who joins him in the squad is less certain. Wales squad regulars Ryan Elias and Elliot Dee are both currently injured and would be in if fit.

Evan Lloyd is impressive but does not start ahead of the recently capped Cardiff captain Liam Belcher. Dragons’ Brodie Coghlan is a good loose forward too.

With a strong Cardiff influence in Tandy’s coaching staff, Belcher may well get in, but we’ve just got Coghlan ahead of him at the moment.

Wales Hookers: Dewi Lake, Evan Lloyd, Brodie Coghlan.

Tightheads

Tandy has some decent options at tighthead when considering Wales’ recent struggles in that position. Henry Thomas is fine option, Archie Griffin should be Wales’ first choice while he’s available – despite being Bath’s third choice – and Dillon Lewis is back playing for Dragons.

Keiron Assiratti completes the quartet after some impressive performances for Cardiff.

Wales Tightheads: Henry Thomas, Archie Griffin, Dillon Lewis, Keiron Assiratti.

Locks

Second row is perhaps the trickiest position for Tandy to juggle as so many of Wales’ previous regulars now play outside of the country. If the new head coach were to pick all of Dafydd Jenkins, Adam Beard, Will Rowlands, and Freddie Thomas, he would be leaving himself very short for the South Africa match.

As a result, Will Rowlands does not make the cut, with Ospreys duo James Fender and Rhys Davies taking his spot.

Jake Ball, James Ratti or Ben Carter may also be called up at a later date to bolster the final squad.

Wales Locks: Adam Beard, Dafydd Jenkins, Freddie Thomas, James Fender, Rhys Davies.

Back Row

A traditional area of strength for Wales, the back row selection will be as competitive as ever for Tandy. Taulupe Faletau has recovered from injury at exactly the right time, scoring a try in his 52-minute comeback from a calf injury. He, Jac Morgan, and Aaron Wainwright will all be in.

Tommy Reffell has also impressed at the right time, scoring for Leicester in their victory over Bath last weekend and will likely pip the likes of Harri Deaves and Josh Macleod for the second openside slot.

At blindside, it’s a knife fight. Ross Moriarty is the form pick, while this would be the perfect chance to get Morgan Morse into the senior set up. The final pick is between Taine Plumtree and Alex Mann. Mann has been excellent for Cardiff and looks ready to return to the biggest stage. Plumtree’s versatility works in his favour.

Do not count out a left-field selection such as Olly Cracknell or Exeter’s England U20 tyro Kane James.

Wales Back Row: Jac Morgan (squad captain), Tommy Reffell, Aaron Wainwright, Taulupe Faletau, Morgan Morse, Ross Moriarty, Alex Mann.

Scrum-halves

Lions tourist Tomos Williams remains Wales’ best nine, but who backs up this autumn will be interesting. Reuben Morgan-Williams was capped for Wales over the summer and looks ready to be a regular at international level.

His club teammate Kieron Hardy is hitting his peak but there are concerns about his fitness after a knock against Zebre a couple of weeks ago.

Rhodri Williams has been an experienced option in recent times, while Dan Blacker has impressed for Scarlets on a losing side.

Wales Scrum-halves: Tomos Williams, Kieron Hardy, Reuben Morgan-Williams.

Fly-halves

Callum Sheedy’s form for Cardiff has potentially put a wedge between the future duopoly of Dan Edwards and Sam Costelow in a Wales number 10 shirt.

While his place kicking leaves a little to be desired, he is playing with confidence and creativity at the moment that only Edwards can match.

Joe Hawkins return to Wales and Scarlets offers the ideal third option as he can also cover in the centre if required.

Wales Fly-halves: Dan Edwards, Callum Sheedy, Joe Hawkins.

Centres

Wales are light in the centres, especially in the 13 shirt. Ben Thomas will likely start at inside centre, with Max Llewellyn’s return from injury a timely boost. He will miss the South Africa game, though.

Joe Roberts offers a left-footed kicking option and a defensive outside centre. The final spot is between the two Williams: Johnny and Keiran.

Johnny Williams is a powerful runner and underrated passing centre, but Keiran Williams may finally get the recognition his Ospreys form has deserved. With Thomas a purely play-making midfielder, both offer some punchy carries.

Wales Centres: Ben Thomas, Max Llewellyn, Joe Roberts, Johnny Williams.

Back Three

Four of the five back three pick themselves. The lack of news on Louis Rees-Zammit’s injury recovery is concerning but he will make the squad. Josh Adams, Tom Rogers, and Blair Murray have shown flashes and their excellent international track records will see them into the squad.

The final spot looks set to be fought out between Ellis Mee and Tom Bowen. Bowen’s try scoring and electric running style has caught the attention of everyone in Welsh rugby, but it’s easy to forget that Mee was so impressive for Wales in the Six Nations.

Wales Back Three: Louis Rees-Zammit, Josh Adams, Tom Rogers, Blair Murray, Tom Bowen

---

Sportin Wales’s coverage of Wales’s World Cup qualifying campaign is proudly sponsored by S4C. You can watch all of Wales’s matches this year for free on S4C and S4C Clic.

If you want to read more pieces from Sportin Wales, why not read to our monthly magazine here or subscribe to the magazine and newsletter at https://sportin.wales/subscribe/.

Our podcast is back for the new season and our co-founder Alex Cuthbert is in charge! You can find all the episodes here or the video versions on our YouTube channel.

You can also keep track of our pieces and videos on our socials at @Sportin_Wales on X or Sportin Wales on Instagram and Facebook.