Wales name squad for Six Nations

Wales have named a 39-man squad for the forthcoming Guinness Six Nations.

The experienced squad, led by captain Alun Wyn Jones, kick off the 2019 tournament in Paris against France on Friday February 1.

The same ten front-row forwards who featured in Wales’ 2018 Under Armour Series squad are again named.

Scarlets pair Rob Evans and Wyn Jones along with Nicky Smith are named as the loose-head props with Elliot Dee, Ryan Elias and Ken Owens the hookers in the squad. Leon Brown, Tomas Francis, Samson Lee and Dillon Lewis provide the tight-head options.

Captain Jones, who has amassed 120 Wales caps and 48 Six Nations appearances to date, is joined by Jake Ball, Adam Beard, Seb Davies and Cory Hill as the second-rows.

Ross Moriarty, Aaron Wainwright and Justin Tipuric who all featured for Wales in the autumn are again named. Josh Navidi returns from injury to be included in the squad alongside call-ups for the versatile Josh Turnbull and Thomas Young.

Taulupe Faletau misses out after his club Bath confirmed this morning that he had fractured his arm again. The back row only returned to action on Saturday against Wasps in the Champions Cup.

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Wales have selected the same three scrum-halves that featured last November in Gareth Davies, Aled Davies and Tomos Williams.

Gareth Anscombe, Dan Biggar, Rhys Patchell and Jarrod Evans, who made his international debut in 2018, are named as the fly-halves.

Jonathan Davies, Hadleigh Parkes, Owen Watkin and Scott Williams are the four centres named.

Josh Adams, Hallam Amos, Steffan Evans, Leigh Halfpenny, Jonah Holmes, George North and Liam Williams provide Wales’ back-three options.

Halfpenny is included despite dealing with ongoing concussion symptoms, which has meant he hasn't played since November.

"We are incredibly excited heading into the 2019 Guinness Six Nations and we are looking forward to kicking the tournament off in Paris against France," said Wales Head Coach Warren Gatland.

"We have a really experienced squad of players, who have been around a number of campaigns together and we feel we are in a pretty good place going into this huge year.

"We have got a few injuries and have selected a larger squad because of that.

"We initially selected 40 players but that was reduced to 39 on Monday with Taulupe’s injury ruling him out.

"Six Nations rugby is an important time of year for rugby fans, players and coaches alike and we are all looking forward to meeting up and preparing for this year’s championship."

WALES SQUAD – 2019 GUINNESS SIX NATIONS

FORWARDS:

Rob Evans (Scarlets) (31 Caps)

Wyn Jones (Scarlets) (10 Caps)

Nicky Smith (Ospreys) (24 Caps)

Elliot Dee (Dragons) (13 Caps)

Ryan Elias (Scarlets) (6 Caps)

Ken Owens (Scarlets) (60 Caps)

Leon Brown (Dragons) (5 Caps)

Tomas Francis (Exeter Chiefs) (36 Caps)

Samson Lee (Scarlets) (38 Caps)

Dillon Lewis (Cardiff Blues) (8 Caps)

Jake Ball (Scarlets) (29 Caps)

Adam Beard (Ospreys) (8 Caps)

Seb Davies (Cardiff Blues) (7 Caps)

Cory Hill (Dragons) (22 Caps)

Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys) (120 Caps) (CAPT)

Ross Moriarty (Dragons) (26 Caps)

Josh Navidi (Cardiff Blues) (11 Caps)

Justin Tipuric (Ospreys) (60 Caps)

Josh Turnbull (Cardiff Blues) (10 Caps)

Aaron Wainwright (Dragons) (3 Caps)

Thomas Young (Wasps) (2 Caps)

BACKS:

Aled Davies (Ospreys) (12 Caps)

Gareth Davies (Scarlets) (36 Caps)

Tomos Williams (Cardiff Blues) (6 Caps)

Gareth Anscombe (Cardiff Blues) (21 Caps)

Dan Biggar (Northampton) (65 Caps)

Jarrod Evans (Cardiff Blues) (1 Cap)

Rhys Patchell (Scarlets) (11 Caps)

Jonathan Davies (Scarlets) (67 Caps)

Hadleigh Parkes (Scarlets) (10 Caps)

Owen Watkin (Ospreys) (8 Caps)

Scott Williams (Ospreys) (57 Caps)

Josh Adams (Worcester) (6 Caps)

Hallam Amos (Dragons) (18 Caps)

Steffan Evans (Scarlets) (12 Caps)

Leigh Halfpenny (Scarlets) (80 Caps)

Jonah Holmes (Leicester) (1 Cap)

George North (Ospreys) (79 Caps)

Liam Williams (Saracens) (51 Caps)