Rugby World Cup: Wales name Jac Morgan and Dewi Lake as co-captains for tournament
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Team-mates, room-mates and now co-captains - Lake and Morgan
Wales head coach Warren Gatland has chosen flanker Jac Morgan and hooker Dewi Lake as co-captains for the 2023 World Cup in France.
They will lead a 33-man squad that only includes two specialist scrum-halves in Tomos Williams and Gareth Davies, with Kieran Hardy left out.
The party contains injured players Taulupe Faletau and Gareth Anscombe.
Wales open their Pool C campaign against Fiji in Bordeaux on 10 September.
There are further group games against Portugal, Australia and Georgia.
Props Corey Domachowski and Henry Thomas are included having won their first senior caps for Wales during the summer series matches this August, while 20-year-old Exeter lock Dafydd Jenkins is the youngest member of the squad.
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There are 16 players included in the squad who have not been involved at a World Cup.
The 15 players left out from the extended 48-man squad are Keiron Assiratti, Ben Carter, Rhys Davies, Kemsley Mathias, Sam Parry, Taine Plumtree, Teddy Williams, Alex Cuthbert, Cai Evans, Kieran Hardy, Max Llewellyn, Joe Roberts, Tom Rogers, Keiran Williams and Owen Williams.
Wales 33-man squad for World Cup
Forwards: Taine Basham, Adam Beard, Elliot Dee, Corey Domachowski, Ryan Elias, Taulupe Faletau, Tomas Francis, Dafydd Jenkins, Dewi Lake (co-captain), Dillon Lewis, Dan Lydiate, Jac Morgan (co-captain), Tommy Reffell, Will Rowlands, Nicky Smith, Gareth Thomas, Henry Thomas, Christ Tshiunza, Aaron Wainwright.
Backs: Josh Adams, Gareth Anscombe, Dan Biggar, Sam Costelow, Gareth Davies, Rio Dyer, Mason Grady, Leigh Halfpenny, George North, Louis Rees-Zammit, Nick Tompkins, Johnny Williams, Liam Williams, Tomos Williams.
Co-captains, scrum-half surprise
Gatland indicated he would consider the co-captains option and the young appointments evoke memories of Sam Warburton being appointed as a 22-year-old for the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand, when Gatland masterminded a run to the semi-finals.
Wales have lost the experience of former captains Alun Wyn Jones, Justin Tipuric and Ken Owens to international retirement and injuries. Morgan and Lloyd have played 20 internationals between them.
Morgan captained Wales in two of the three warm-up games, the opening win against England in Cardiff and final loss to South Africa, while hooker Lake led the side in the defeat to England at Twickenham.
"They are two young players who will complement each other well," said Gatland.
"They are good mates and have a good relationship. It's a good opportunity. It is something that I have never done before. They have got a big future ahead of them."
Wales have only chosen two specialist scrum-halves in Williams and Davies. The last occasion Wales only took two scrum-halves to a World Cup was 2003, when wing Shane Williams covered the number nine role as a third option.
It has allowed Gatland to name an extra back with Leigh Halfpenny preparing for his third World Cup alongside George North, who will become the fifth Wales player to appear in four global tournaments after Gareth Thomas, Stephen Jones, Gethin Jenkins and Alun Wyn Jones.
"If we do pick injuries, it is not too far of a distance to go," said Gatland.
"We'd had a discussion with the players right from the start that the tipping point could be we take two nines or three 10s. There was no certainty about anyone being selected in the squad.
"There is potentially a point there where you have got to make a concession and look at a bit of depth.
"Probably all along we were thinking of three nines, and we were just looking at some depth in our back three, and covering players that are getting on a little bit and whether they can back up in all the games.
"We just wanted a bit more cover in that back three."
Gatland indicated if one of the scrum-halves was injured in the warm-up of a game then Scarlets fly-half Sam Costelow could act as number nine cover.
"If we do have a head injury assessment (HIA) and someone's out then we are going to have to potentially make a call on whether we call someone into the squad," said Gatland.
"We know we've taken a risk. Other teams have done the same thing.
"You've got a pinching point in the squad somewhere in terms of the numbers but those nines (Davies and Williams) have been robust and we are confident they are going to be fine.
"If we get a HIA then we'll need to look at that, address it, and see what happens."
Injury issues
Gatland currently has up to seven players carrying niggles ahead of their World Cup opener against Fiji in Bordeaux on 10 September.
Fly-half Anscombe and number eight Faletau are the only members of the squad who have not featured in any of the three warm-up games.
Hookers Lake and Ryan Elias, plus lock Dafydd Jenkins suffered injuries during Wales' home and away appointments with England and are battling to be fit to face Fiji.
Fly-half Dan Biggar (back) and full-back Liam Williams (hamstring) pulled out of the South Africa defeat because of minor problems, in moves that were labelled "precautionary".
There are only three specialist locks in Will Rowlands, Adam Beard and Jenkins, with Christ Tshiunza adding another second-row option while also able to play in the back row.
New Scarlets signing Taine Plumtree picked up a shoulder injury against England at Twickenham which hampered the back-five forward's chance of selection.
"Taine is unlucky," said Gatland.
"Over the next couple of weeks you are probably looking at the amount of players that can take part in training and some live sessions. He's unfortunately drawn the short straw in terms of that.
"I had a chat to him this morning and said to him be ready in case there's potentially an opportunity. I spoke to him last week about where he was at with his injury.
"It was always going to be a tight call whether we were going to take him."
World Cup games
Wales v Fiji, Bordeaux, Sunday, 10 September 20:00 BST
Wales v Portugal, Nice, Saturday, 16 September 16:45 BST
Wales v Australia, Lyon, Sunday, 24 September 20:00 BST
Wales v Georgia, Nantes, Saturday, 7 October 14:00 BST.
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