WALES HEAD COACH Warren Gatland has paid little heed to the law his name is attached to as he has selected 10 players based outside Wales in his 37-man Six Nations squad.
‘Gatland’s Law’ limits (in a loose sense of the word to begin with) the Wales head coach to playing two wildcard selections who ply their trade outside of the principality.
Included in that group of players living east of the Severn is Bath out-half Rhys Priestland who had earlier indicated he would make himself unavailable for international selection while in the Premiership.
Scarlets scrum-half Aled Davies is the only uncapped member of the squad, while injured lock Jake Ball also makes the cut.
“We have picked a larger squad than normal,” Gatland says, “we have a few injuries at the moment, those players aren’t too far away from getting back on the field so we are happy with the mix.”
Gatland’s ‘larger than usual’ gathering also included Cardiff Blues pair Tom James and Josh Turnbull who have not played for their country since 2010 and 2014 respectively.
Wales, who exited the Rugby World Cup after a dramatic late quarter-final try from South Africa, open their campaign in Dublin against Ireland on 7 February.
Wales extended squad for 2016 Six Nations
Forwards:
Rob Evans (Scarlets), Paul James (Ospreys), Gethin Jenkins (Cardiff Blues), Tomas Francis (Exeter Chiefs), Aaron Jarvis (Ospreys), Samson Lee (Scarlets), Scott Baldwin (Ospreys), Kristian Dacey (Cardiff Blues), Ken Owens (Scarlets), Jake Ball (Scarlets), Luke Charteris (Racing 92), Bradley Davies (Wasps), Dominic Day (Bath Rugby), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys), Josh Turnbull (Cardiff Blues), Taulupe Faletau (Newport Gwent Dragons), James King (Ospreys), Dan Lydiate (Ospreys), Ross Moriarty (Gloucester Rugby), Justin Tipuric (Ospreys), Sam Warburton (Capt.) (Cardiff Blues).
Backs:
Aled Davies (Scarlets) *, Gareth Davies (Scarlets), Lloyd Williams (Cardiff Blues) Dan Biggar (Ospreys), Rhys Priestland (Bath Rugby), Cory Allen (Cardiff Blues), Jonathan Davies (Clermont Auvergne), Tyler Morgan (Newport Gwent Dragons), Jamie Roberts (Harlequins), Hallam Amos (Newport Gwent Dragons), Alex Cuthbert (Cardiff Blues), Tom James (Cardiff Blues), George North (Northampton Saints), Gareth Anscombe (Cardiff Blues), Matthew Morgan (Bristol Rugby), Liam Williams (Scarlets).
