Wales name former England prop in their Rugby World Cup training squad

Players will start to come in for training sessions with Wales on a rolling basis from 25 May, with entry into camp depending on when an individual’s club season has ended.

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.

Wales then have three Summer Series Test matches against England (home and away on 5 and 12 August) and South Africa (19 August at Principality Stadium) before the official 33-player squad to head to Rugby World Cup 2023 in France is named.

Public sale tickets to watch Wales at Principality Stadium are available now from WRU.WALES/TICKETS

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.

“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.”

The squad includes former England prop Henry Thomas, who won seven caps for the men in white.

Rhys Carre (Cardiff Rugby – 20 caps)
Corey Domachowski (Cardiff Rugby – uncapped)
Kemsley Mathias (Scarlets – uncapped)
Nicky Smith (Ospreys – 42 caps)
Gareth Thomas (Ospreys – 21 caps)
Eliott Dee (Dragons – 41 caps)
Ryan Elias (Scarlets – 33 caps)
Dewi Lake (Ospreys – 8 caps)
Ken Owens (Scarlets – 91 caps)
Keiron Assiratti (Cardiff Rugby – uncapped)
Tomas Francis (Ospreys – 71 caps)
Will Davies-King (Cardiff Rugby – uncapped)
Dillon Lewis (Cardiff Rugby – 50 caps)
Henry Thomas (Montpellier – uncapped)
Adam Beard (Ospreys – 46 caps)
Ben Carter (Dragons – 9 caps)
Rhys Davies (Ospreys – 2 caps)
Cory Hill (Yokohama Canon Eagles – 32 caps)
Dafydd Jenkins (Exeter Chiefs – 6 cap)
Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys – 157 caps)
Will Rowlands (Dragons – 23 caps)
Christ Tshiunza (Exeter Chiefs – 5 caps)
Teddy Williams (Cardiff Rugby – uncapped)
Taine Basham (Dragons – 11 caps)
Taulupe Faletau (Cardiff Rugby – 100 caps)
Dan Lydiate (Ospreys – 68 caps)
Josh Macleod (Scarlets – 2 caps)
Jac Morgan (Ospreys – 9 caps)
Tommy Reffell (Leicester Tigers – 9 caps)
Justin Tipuric (Ospreys – 93 caps)
Aaron Wainwright (Dragons – 37 caps)

Gareth Davies (Scarlets – 67 caps)
Kieran Hardy (Scarlets – 17 caps)
Rhys Webb (Ospreys – 40 caps)
Tomos Williams (Cardiff Rugby – 45 caps)
Gareth Anscombe (Ospreys – 35 caps)
Dan Biggar (Toulon – 107 caps)
Sam Costelow (Scarlets – 2 caps)
Owen Williams (Ospreys – 7 caps)
Mason Grady (Cardiff Rugby – 2 caps)
Max Llewellyn (Cardiff Rugby – uncapped)
George North (Ospreys – 113 caps)
Joe Roberts (Scarlets – uncapped)
Nick Tompkins (Saracens – 27 caps)
Johnny Williams (Scarlets – 5 caps)
Keiran Williams (Ospreys – uncapped)
Josh Adams (Cardiff Rugby – 49 caps)
Alex Cuthbert (Ospreys – 57 caps)
Rio Dyer (Dragons – 7 caps)
Cai Evans (Ospreys – uncapped)
Leigh Halfpenny (Scarlets – 99 caps)
Louis Rees-Zammit (Gloucester Rugby – 25 caps)
Tom Rogers (Scarlets – 2 caps)
Liam Williams (Cardiff Rugby – 84 caps)

Nobody has more players born overseas in the Six Nations than the Scots, with 21 of their Six Nations squad hailing from other countries.

This method of talent spotting has helped Gregor Townsend transform his squad from fodder into genuine title contenders.

He's also not done, with five more players linked with changing their allegiances prior to the fast approaching 2023 Rugby World Cup.

Age: 23

Position: Fly-half

Honours: Ireland U20

Healy will join Edinburgh this summer on a two-year deal.

The 23-year-old represented Ireland at under-20 level but qualifies for Scotland through his grandparents.

Healy has featured for the Irish province since 2019, amassing 275 points from 47 appearances.

"It's clear how much they want to play. I'm looking forward to putting myself into a new environment and seeing how I go," Healy told Edinburgh's website.

"I'd like to thank everyone at Munster for their support over the last few seasons. I've loved every minute of my time playing with the club, but I felt now was the right time to take on a new and exciting challenge in Edinburgh."

Age: 32

Position: Scrum-half

Honours: Ireland (11 caps), Emerging Ireland, Ireland U20

The former Connacht ace has not played for Ireland in three years — and can move under World Rugby’s new eligibility rules.

His father, John Cooney senior, who was born in Blantyre in South Lanarkshire, , was a journalist who worked for the 

Glasgow Herald before becoming European correspondent, and later religious affairs correspondent, for The Irish Times

Players can switch nations if they have been stood down from international rugby for three years and they, or a parent or grandparent, were born in the country they wish to represent.

DID YOU KNOW? He is the first player to play over 20 games for three different Irish province (Connacht, Leinster, Ulster)

Age: 20

Position: Fly-half

Honours: England U20

“I have chatted to Fin Smith on three occasions now since the Six Nations and have chatted to other players who are dual qualified that have not made our squad,” said Townsend.

“He is definitely a player we think very highly of.

“He has played a lot of rugby at a young age and just turned 20 a few weeks ago. It was great to get to know the person as well. He has close links with my old club, his grandad played for Gala and the Lions and his mum is from a village three miles from Gala. 

“It has been good to get that connection and see how his game is progressing. I thought one of his best games was at the weekend when he played Bath.

“I went down to watch the Premiership final against London Irish so yeah, he is progressing but we didn’t feel this tour is the right time for him and obviously he would have to make a commitment between us and England.”

Age: 25

Position: Number 8

Honours: England, England U20, England U18

“I grew up in Scotland and I qualified to play on residency so that’s what I did,” Mercer said.

“I played for Scotland’s U16s because, at the time, I just wanted to play international rugby and to test myself against the best.

“I tried to get into the Scotland U18s a year early but I didn’t get selected.  The next year came around and I was gunning to play [for Scotland U18s].  Around the same time, I was looking at some different contracts and that’s when Bath offered me one.  When you’re offered a contract by a team like that, you’d be stupid to turn it down so, of course, I accepted it.

“Unfortunately, that was when the coach of the Scotland U18s called me and told me he wasn’t going to pick me because I hadn’t committed to Scotland and to Scottish rugby.

“I remember that day pretty well, because, 20 minutes later, when I told the England U18s head coach I hadn’t been picked, he just said: ‘Come down and play for us then’.”

“After that, my first game for England U18s was against Scotland. Honestly, you couldn’t write it.”

Age: 21

Position: Winger

Honours: England U20

The 2021/22 Premiership season was a breakthrough campaign for Roebuck, as a run of six tries in six games in January 2022 cemented his place in Alex Sanderson’s squad. 

Roebuck was born in Inverness, Scotland, but has represented England at youth level, making seven appearances for the U20 side.

The 21-year-old was called up by England in the Autumn, but hasn't been capped so would be available to Townsend if he can convince him to take the call.