Rugby World Cup 2023: Centre Joe Hawkins left out of Wales squad with 10 uncapped players named

Hawkins played in four of Wales' matches during the Six Nations campaign this year

Centre Joe Hawkins has been left out of Wales' World Cup training squad following his move to Exeter from Ospreys.

There are 10 uncapped Wales players in the 54-man squad which includes former England prop Henry Thomas.

Thomas is joined by Corey Domachowski, Kemsley Mathias, Keiron Assiratti, Will Davies-King, Teddy Williams, Max Llewellyn, Joe Roberts, Keiran Williams and Cai Evans.

Lock Cory Hill also receives a recall.

Prop Thomas, who plays for Montpellier, is included after playing seven caps for England between 2013 and 2014.

The tight-head prop is available for Wales through his father and is eligible under World Rugby regulations because he last played for England more than three years ago.

There is no Wyn Jones, Bradley Roberts or Rhys Patchell - who were all involved in the 2023 Six Nations squad - while Scarlets half-backs Gareth Davies and Sam Costelow and Ospreys prop Nicky Smith have been recalled.

Dragons duo Taine Basham and Elliot Dee, Ospreys pair Dan Lydiate and Dewi Lake and Scarlets centre Johnny Williams have been recalled after recovering from injury.

There is no room for Thomas Young, James Botham, Owen Watkin, Ross Moriarty or Morgan Morris.

No go for Joe

In March, Professional Rugby Board (PRB) chairman Malcolm Wall said the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) was reviewing the future international eligibility of Hawkins and Rowlands.

Warren Gatland was told by the PRB that Hawkins was ineligible while Rowlands was available to be picked.

Those playing outside of Wales are now required to have 25 caps to represent their country after the number was dropped from 60 in February 2023.

Both will play outside Wales from the end of the 2022-23 season and neither were going to reach the 25-cap threshold by that time.

Hawkins, with five caps, will join Exeter from Ospreys for the 2023-24 season, while Dragons lock Rowlands has 23 caps and joins Racing 92.

Hawkins could still have been deemed available for Wales by eligibility rules if he was uncapped when he signed his Exeter contract.

He was first named in a national squad in October 2022, winning his first cap the following month against Australia.

Hawkins started the first four 2023 Six Nations games under Gatland before missing the final fixture against France because of injury.

Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter would not reveal when Hawkins officially signed for the English club but says he did expect the player to be available for Wales for the World Cup and beyond.

Rowlands is in a different situation to Hawkins because he is two caps short of the threshold as he prepares to leave Newport for Paris.

The 31-year-old lock was unable to add to his tally during the 2023 Six Nations because he missed the tournament with a shoulder injury.

Wales have three World Cup warm-up games in August where Rowlands could make up the numbers required.

Rowlands was named Wales player of the season in 2022 and has become an important member of the squad since his international debut in 2020.

Hill left Cardiff before joining Yokohama Eagles in July 2021. The move initially rendered him ineligible to play for Wales then but the 32-cap lock is now available again.

Ospreys centre Keiran Williams and Cardiff second-row Teddy Williams were included in the Six Nations squad but remain uncapped.

Cardiff centre Max Llewellyn is leaving to join Gloucester but is eligible because he is uncapped and has not been involved officially in any previous national squads.

Wales will meet up officially towards the end of June before two gruelling trainings camps in Switzerland and Turkey in July.

They play England in a double-header at Principality Stadium and Twickenham on 5 August and 12 August before hosting South Africa on 19 August in Cardiff.

Gatland will name in his final 33-man squad in late August before Wales open their World Cup campaign against Fiji in Bordeaux on 10 September before further group games against Portugal, Australia and Georgia.

"We've picked a large squad for a number of reasons," said Gatland.

"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."

Wales' preliminary Rugby World Cup squad

Forwards: Rhys Carre (Cardiff Rugby), Corey Domachowski (Cardiff Rugby), Kemsley Mathias (Scarlets), Nicky Smith (Ospreys), Gareth Thomas (Ospreys), Elliot Dee (Dragons), Ryan Elias (Scarlets), Dewi Lake (Ospreys), Ken Owens (Scarlets), Keiron Assiratti (Cardiff Rugby), Will Davies-King (Cardiff Rugby), Tomas Francis (Ospreys), Dillon Lewis (Cardiff Rugby), Henry Thomas (Montpellier), Adam Beard (Ospreys), Ben Carter (Dragons), Rhys Davies (Ospreys), Cory Hill (Yokohama Canon Eagles), Dafydd Jenkins (Exeter Chiefs), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys), Will Rowlands (Dragons), Christ Tshiunza (Exeter Chiefs), Teddy Williams (Cardiff Rugby), Taine Basham (Dragons) Taulupe Faletau (Cardiff Rugby), Dan Lydiate (Ospreys), Josh Macleod (Scarlets), Jac Morgan (Ospreys), Tommy Reffell (Leicester Tigers), Justin Tipuric (Ospreys), Aaron Wainwright (Dragons).

Backs: Gareth Davies (Scarlets), Kieran Hardy (Scarlets), Rhys Webb (Ospreys), Tomos Williams (Cardiff Rugby), Gareth Anscombe (Ospreys), Dan Biggar (Toulon), Sam Costelow (Scarlets), Owen Williams (Ospreys), Mason Grady (Cardiff Rugby), Max Llewellyn (Cardiff Rugby), George North (Ospreys), Joe Roberts (Scarlets), Nick Tompkins (Saracens), Johnny Williams (Scarlets), Keiran Williams (Ospreys), Josh Adams (Cardiff Rugby), Alex Cuthbert (Ospreys), Rio Dyer (Dragons), Cai Evans (Ospreys), Leigh Halfpenny (Scarlets), Louis Rees-Zammit (Gloucester Rugby), Tom Rogers (Scarlets), Liam Williams (Cardiff Rugby).

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