Wales head coach Warren Gatland has named the 33-man squad to contest the 2010 Invesco Perpetual Autumn Series next month, which begins with the arrival of Australia at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday, November 6.
Shane Williams, James Hook, Richard Hibbard, from the Ospreys, and Gethin Jenkins, Tom Shanklin and Martyn Williams, from the Blues, all return after missing the summer tour of New Zealand with Blues prop Scott Andrews and Scarlets wing George North the only two uncapped players in the squad.
Gatland, who this weekend signed a contract extension with the WRU which will keep him at the helm of the national side until 2015, will name his Series captain on the day he names the side to face the Wallabies keeping his entire squad on their toes during the two-week training camp which starts this Sunday.
“We will assess form and pick our team and then name the captain, it has to be in that order, but there is little to suggest to us that it will not be Ryan again, he needs a little more game time, but we are more than happy with what he offers in a leadership capacity,” said Gatland.
“It has been good to see some of our senior players who we missed out on the summer tour back and fully fit for their Regions who have acquitted themselves reasonably well in Europe.
“And to be able to select a fully fit Shane Williams, James Hook or Gethin Jenkins is a big lift for us.
“Scott Andrews has been doing well technically, physically he is in good shape, we have had our eye on him at the Blues and he has been in and around the squad for a while.
“George North is only young but really set the start of the season on fire with his form. He is a big physical player, last time I saw a pair of thighs like that was on some of the Samoans back in New Zealand.
“He’s carrying an injury at the moment but hopefully he’ll be back in the next few weeks and will benefit from the experience of being around the national squad.”
Wales face the Wallabies in just over a fortnight and Gatland hopes the nation will get behind his squad as the countdown to RWC 2011 begins in earnest at the Millennium Stadium.
“Australia have been devastating at times so far this season, in 2011 (at the RWC) I think they are going to be firing,” added Gatland.
“This is a really big game for us, we were disappointed last year that we didn’t do as well as we can against them but we have a few big players back this year.
“From our squad the only really absentee is Jamie Roberts who is not available to us but apart from him we have been able to select from a position of strength.
“So we are really looking forward to and are excited about Australia. They will be well prepared after a good Tri Nations and facing the All Blacks in Hong Kong before they arrive, but we have a good couple of weeks to work hard and get up and ready.
“I hope the the welsh public come out and support us and really get behind us now, the Millennium Stadium at capacity makes a huge difference to the players and if we can fill stadium it will be a real boost for us.”
WALES SQUAD – 2010 INVESCO PERPETUAL SERIES
Gethin JENKINS (CARDIFF BLUES – Cap No 1,006)
DoB: 17.11.80. 6’2″ / 1.88m. 19st 4lbs / 122kgs
International record: 74 caps (W 33, L 39, D 2; 15 pts – 3T)
Paul JAMES (OSPREYS – Cap No 1,021)
DoB: 13.05.82. 6’1″ / 1.86m. 18st 4lbs / 116kgs
International record: 13 caps (W 5, L 8)
Adam Rhys JONES (OSPREYS – Cap No 1,018)
DoB: 08.03.81. 6’0″ / 1.83m. 19st 10lb / 125kgs
International record: 64 caps (W 31, L 31, D 2; 10 pts – 2T)
John YAPP (CARDIFF BLUES – Cap No 1,031)
DoB: 09.04.83. 6’2″ / 1.88m. 18st 8lbs / 118kgs
International record: 16 caps (W 12, L 4)
Scott ANDREWS (CARDIFF BLUES)
DoB: 01.08.89. 6’2″ / 1.88m. 18st 1lb / 115kgs
International record: Uncapped
Matthew REES (SCARLETS – Cap No 1,033)
DoB: 09.12.80. 6’0″ / 1.83m. 17st 3lbs / 109kgs
International record: 39 caps (W 17, L 21, D 1; 10 pts – 2T)
Huw BENNETT (OSPREYS – Cap No 1,017)
DoB: 11.06.83. 6’0″ / 1.83m. 16st 10lbs / 106kgs
International record: 34 caps (W 18, L 16)
Richard HIBBARD (OSPREYS – Cap No 1,048)
DoB: 13.12.83. 6’0″ / 1.83m. 17st 7lbs / 111kgs
International record: 9 caps (W 3, L 6)
Alun Wyn JONES (OSPREYS – Cap No 1,046)
DoB: 19.09.85. 6’5″ / 1.96m. 18st 8lbs / 118kgs
International record: 40 caps (W 16, L 24; 25 pts – 5T)
Bradley DAVIES (CARDIFF BLUES – Cap No 1,065)
DoB: 09.01.87. 6’6″ / 1.98m. 18st 11lbs / 119kgs
International record: 13 caps (W 6, L 7)
Deiniol JONES (CARDIFF BLUES – Cap No 981)
DoB: 18.11.77. 6’5″ 1.96m. 17st 3lbs / 109kgs
International record: 10 caps (W 6, L 4)
Ian GOUGH (OSPREYS – Cap No 964)
DoB: 10.11.76. 6′ 6″ / 1.98m. 18st 11lbs / 119kgs
International record: 63 caps (W 30, L 30, D 3; 5 pts – 1T)
Dan LYDIATE (NEWPORT GWENT DRAGONS – Cap No 1,071)
DoB: 18.12.87. 1.93m / 6’4″. 17st 3lbs / 109kgs
International record: 2 caps (W 1, L 1)
Jonathan THOMAS (OSPREYS – Cap No 1,013)
DoB: 27.12.82. 6’5″ / 1.96m. 17st 13lbs / 114kgs
International record: 58 caps (W 27, L 29, D 2; 35 pts – 7T)
Ryan JONES (OSPREYS – Cap No 1,029)
DoB: 13.03.81. 6’5″ / 1.96m. 18st 0lbs / 114kgs
International record: 43 caps (W 23, L 19, D 1; 5 pts – 1T)
Sam WARBURTON (CARDIFF BLUES – Cap No 1,070)
DoB: 05.10.88. 1.88m / 6’2″. 15st 11lbs / 100kgs
International record: 7 caps (W 4, L 3)
Martyn WILLIAMS (CARDIFF BLUES – Cap No 944)
DoB: 01.09.75. 6’0″ / 1.83m. 15st 2lbs / 96kgs
International record: 95 caps (W 42, L 50, D 3; 73 pts – 14T, 1DG)
Rob McCUSKER (SCARLETS – Cap No 1,075)
DoB: 12.10.85. 1.95m / 6’4″. 15st 11lbs / 100kgs
International record: 3 caps (L 3)
Michael PHILLIPS (OSPREYS – Cap No 1,022)
DoB: 29.08.82. 6’3″ / 1.91m. 16st 4lbs / 103kgs
International record: 42 caps (W 21, L 20, D 1; 20 pts – 4T)
Richard REES (CARDIFF BLUES – Cap No 1,072)
DoB: 21.05.83. 5’11” / 1.80m. 12st 7lb / 79kgs
International record: 5 caps (W 1, L 4)
Tavis KNOYLE (SCARLETS – Cap No 1,076)
DoB: 02.06.90. 6’1″ / 1.85m. 15st 12lbs / 101kgs
International record: 1 cap (L 1)
Stephen JONES (SCARLETS – Cap No 966)
DoB: 08.12.77. 6’1″ / 1.86m. 15st 0lbs / 95kgs
International record: 91 caps (W 39, L50, D2; 815 pts – 7T, 132C, 166PG, 6DG)
Dan BIGGAR (OSPREYS – Cap No 1,063)
DoB: 16.10.89. 6’2″ / 1.88m. 14st 3lbs / 90kgs
International record: 6 caps (W 4, L 2; 44 pts – 7C, 10PG)
James HOOK (OSPREYS – Cap No 1,047)
DoB: 27.06.85. 6’0″ / 1.83m. 14st 10lbs / 93kgs
International record: 43 caps (W 18, L 24, D 1; 232 pts – 10T, 34C, 35PG, 3DG)
Andrew BISHOP (OSPREYS – Cap No 1,059)
DoB: 07.08.85. 6’0″ / 1.83m. 14st 12lbs / 94kgs
International record: 11 caps (W 7, L 4)
Jonathan DAVIES (SCARLETS – Cap No 1,066)
DoB: 05.04.88. 6’1″ / 1.86m. 16st 10lbs / 106kgs
International record: 7 caps (W 4, L 3; 10 pts – 2T)
Tom SHANKLIN (CARDIFF BLUES – Cap No 993)
DoB: 24.11.79. 6’2″ / 1.88m. 15st 9lbs / 99kgs
International record: 66 caps (W 32, L 33, D 1; 100 pts – 20T)
Shane WILLIAMS (OSPREYS – Cap No 976)
DoB: 26.02.77. 5’7″ / 1.71m. 12st 11lbs / 81kgs
International record: 73 caps (W 35, L 36, D 2; 255 pts – 51T)
Leigh HALFPENNY (CARDIFF BLUES – Cap No 1,060)
DoB: 22.12.88. 5’10” / 1.77m. 12st 11lbs / 81kgs
International record: 17 caps (W 6, L 11; 59 pts – 7T, 8PG)
Will HARRIES (NEWPORT GWENT DRAGONS – Cap No 1,077)
DoB: 30.03.87. 5’8″ / 1.73m. 13st 1lb / 83kgs
International record: 1 cap (L 1)
George NORTH (SCARLETS)
DoB: 13.04.92. 6’4″ / 1.92m. 16st 7lbs / 105kgs
International record: Uncapped
Lee BYRNE (OSPREYS – Cap No 1,041)
DoB: 01.06.80. 6’3″ / 1.91m. 15st 1lb / 96kgs
International record: 35 caps (W 14, L 20, D 1; 40 pts – 8T)
Tom PRYDIE (OSPREYS – Cap No 1,074)
DoB: 23.02.92. 6’4″ / 1.94m. 13st 10lbs / 87kgs
International record: 4 caps (W 1, L 3; 5 pts – 1T)
