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Head Coach Warren Gatland has named Wales’ 31-man World Cup roster. Recently ranked no1 in the world rankings the Western British side are title contenders for that tournament which starts in 20 days time in Japan.
Gatland’s roster comes with et shock omissions of hooker Rob Evans, and center Scott Williams. In their places will be Rhys Carre, and Owen Watkin.
The roster contains five props – Nicky Smith, Wyn Jones, Carre, Tomas Francis and Dillon Lewis; and three hookers kKn Owens, Elliot Dee and Ryan Elias as the front-rowers.
Leading the side from the second-row will be Alun Wyn Jones, a veteran of three prior RWC tournaments. Jake Ball, Adam Beard and Cory Hill join him to give Gatland four specialists to lock the scrum.
James Davies, Ross Moriarty, Josh Navidi, Aaron Shingler, Justin Tipuric and Aaron Wainwright are the back-rowers selected.
In the backs Gatland has opted for three scrum halves which sees a reduction in players for other positions. Gareth Davies, Aled Davies and Tomos Williams are all on the roster for this reason.
The fly halves are Dan Biggar and Rhys Patchell with the latter also covering fullback if required. He will be backup to the two specialists on the roster – Leigh Halfpenny, and Liam Williams.
There are just three mid-fielders among the 31-man roster. They are Jonathan Davies, Hadleigh Parkes and Owen Watkin.
Wales will compete in Pool D of RWC 2019 against Australia, Fiji, Georgia, and Uruguay. They open their campaign against Georgia on Monday, September 23 in Toyota while their match against Los Teros will be their final pool match and is to be played in Kumamoto on Sunday, October 13.
For complete details of Wales’ 31-man roster click here.
WALES WORLD CUP ROSTER
FORWARDS: Elliot Dee, Ken Owens, Rhys Carre, Tomas Francis, Dillon Lewis, Wyn Jones, Nicky Smith, Adam Beard, Jake Ball, Ryan Elias, Cory Hill, Aaron Shingler, Alun Wyn Jones (capt.), James Davies, Ross Moriarty, Josh Navidi, Justin Tipuric, Aaron Wainwright
BACKS: Aled Davies, Gareth Davies, Tomos Williams, Dan Biggar, Rhys Patchell, Jonathan Davies, Hadleigh Parkes, Owen Watkin, Josh Adams, Hallam Amos, George North, Leigh Halfpenny, Liam Williams
