Wales stars to face Argentina

Wales have confirmed their squad for their four-match November test series against Australia, Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. The squad is at full strength though there are question marks over the availability of captain Sam Warburton and influential no8 Taulupe Faletau. Warburton recently had surgery to repair a cheek injury while Faletau is not expected to play until mid-November at the earliest after damaging a knee. Faletau is one of seven players based outside Wales included in the 36-man squad.

From the match day 23 that faced Argentina when the two sides last met in November of 2013 an impressive 16 remain in the Welsh group. There are two uncapped players, both Ospreys – second row Rory Thornton and flyhalf Sam Davies. The latter is included with Rhys Priestland a high-profile absentee due to the new ‘wild card’ selection policy that restricts the eligibility of players based outside of Wales.

British & Irish Lions star Leigh Halfpenny is included having missed out on both the 2015 World Cup and 2016 Six Nations due to injury, his last appearance in a Welsh jersey coming against Italy in a warm-up match last September. There are also recalls for props Scott Andrews, Rhys Gill, and Nicky Smith, all of whom were left out of the World Cup preparations. Scarlets loosehead Rob Evans is unavailable after undergoing wrist surgery, while veteran Ospreys prop Paul James has been overlooked.

FORWARDS
Scott Andrews (Cardiff Blues), Tomas Francis (Exeter Chiefs), Rhys Gill (Cardiff Blues), Gethin Jenkins (Cardiff Blues), Samson Lee (Scarlets), Nicky Smith (Ospreys), Scott Baldwin (Ospreys), Kristian Dacey (Cardiff Blues), Ken Owens (Scarlets), Jake Ball (Scarlets), Luke Charteris (Bath Rugby), Bradley Davies (Ospreys), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys), Rory Thornton (Ospreys), Dan Baker (Ospreys), Taulupe Faletau (Bath Rugby), James King (Ospreys), Dan Lydiate (Ospreys), Ross Moriarty (Gloucester), Justin Tipuric (Ospreys), Sam Warburton (capt, Cardiff Blues)

BACKS
Gareth Davies (Scarlets), Rhys Webb (Ospreys), Lloyd Williams (Cardiff Blues), Gareth Anscombe (Cardiff Blues), Dan Biggar (Ospreys), Sam Davies (Ospreys), Jonathan Davies (Scarlets), Tyler Morgan (Newport Gwent Dragons), Jamie Roberts (Harlequins), Scott Williams (Scarlets), Hallam Amos (Newport Gwent Dragons), Alex Cuthbert (Cardiff Blues), Leigh Halfpenny (Toulon), George North (Northampton Saints), Liam Williams (Scarlets)

FIXTURES
Nov 5 – 14:30 GMT – vs Australia
Nov 12 – 17:30 GMT – vs Argentina
Nov 19 – 14:30 GMT – vs Japan
Nov 26 – 17:30 GMT – vs South Africa
(all at Principality Stadium, Cardiff)