With Warren Gatland set to announce the Wales squad for the 2025 Six Nations this time next week, Sportin Wales has picked five players with an outside chance of selection.

Wales regulars Tomos Williams, Jac Morgan, and Aaron Wainwright all performing well for their clubs ahead of a new Six Nations campaign, there have been plenty of players on the outside of the international bubble putting in performances that may have caught the eye in recent weeks and months.

With Gatland not scared to pick younger, more left-field, options since the 2023 World Cup, all five players on this list have a real chance of donning the red of Wales this spring.

Olly Cracknell

Starting right out of left field: Olly Cracknell. The former Ospreys forward catapulted himself into the conversation with a try-scoring player of the match display against Exeter on the weekend.

The number eight has been excellent in recent weeks and certainly has the backing of his coach, Michael Cheika.

“I’ve really enjoyed coaching him,” Cheika said. “Olly is an intelligent guy and thinks about the game well. He’s a bloody good player, carrying well for us and being physical.

“He’s probably one of the best back-rowers in England right now,” Cheika added. “Olly might not have the flash and the glitter but he’s doing the job, for sure.

“I don’t think he’s got the ‘potential’ [for Test rugby] – he’s there. If they played him at that level then he would definitely perform, because he’s got the mentality and the temperament.”

As for whether he can break up the Wainwright-Faletau duopoly at number eight is a different question, but he definitely seems ahead of the oft-overlooked Morgan Morris and Taine Basham for the sixth spot in the squad.

Ellis Mee

There is nothing like a couple of strong performances in Welsh derbies to properly announce oneself into the international conversation.

Mee was signed by Scarlets off the back of an excellent English Championship campaign with Nottingham, where he scored seven tries from fullback.

Standing at 6’4″, Mee is a back three player of the Freddie Steward mould, but has scored tries with the finishing instinct of international regulars Rio Dyer and Josh Adams.

With Scarlets’ abundance of 15s, Mee has exclusively appeared on the wing this season, and scored against Ospreys and Dragons in recent weeks.

Adams has returned to Cardiff on top form, but other wing options such as Rio Dyer and Tom Rogers have struggled with injury and loss of form since the autumn internationals. With that in mind, Mee may well sneak into the squad.

Brodie Coghlan

With Dewi Lake and Ryan Elias both out with injuries, Wales’s hooker position is wide open going into the Six Nations.

In recent times, it would be Elliot Dee to take the number two shirt but he too is out with an ankle injury. In his place this season in a yellow and black jersey has been Brodie Coghlan.

Coghlan is a young hooker with much promise and now some decent club experience. Starting everyone of the Dragons matches in the United Rugby Championship, the 23-year-old has impressed, making the sixth most tackles (113) and winning the most lineouts (87).

Kepu Tuipulotu

Speaking of hookers, Kepu Tuipulotu is perhaps the least likely to make the Wales squad for the Six Nations, but there is good reason he is included on this list.

Brother of Wales international Sisilia and son of former Dragons centre Sione, Tuipulotu is only 19 and but has already had a taste of a senior men’s international environment.

The only problem is that it was for England, not Wales.

Having gone to school at the prestigious Harrow, Tuipulotu has captained England at U18 level, and it is suggested that he would prefer England over Wales – or Tonga – if he had to choose between the two.

However, England have rule riches at hooker, with captain Jamie George, Luke Cowan-Dickie, and Theo Dan all expected to be picked for the 2025 Six Nations. Perhaps Gatland can convince Tuipulotu to switch in a reverse of the Immanuel Feyi-Waboso situation in 2024.

Rhys Davies

Rhys Davies marked his return from injury with a typically hard-working performance against Cardiff Rugby on New Year’s Day.

Returning after nine months out with a knee injury, Davies made 10 tackles and seven carries, completing the full 80 minutes.

With injuries to clubmate Adam Beard and Dragons’ Ben Carter, there is a spot open in the second row in Wales’s Six Nations squad. Ospreys head coach Mark Jones certainly thinks Davies should fill that gap.

“To produce that performance [against Cardiff] after so long out was phenomenal,” Jones said.

“Rhys has been relentless in his rehab work as he proved by playing the full 80 minutes on an artificial pitch, which is 10% quicker than a grass pitch.

“That was a massive credit to both Rhys and the conditioning team after nine months out. He produces those eye-catching moments but he also does all the dirty work that you need, defending the maul, pushing in the scrums.

“He’s relentless with that type of stuff and personifies what we’re about at the Ospreys, the team’s attitude, fitness and ability to mentally stay in the fight.”

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