CARDIFF, Wales (AP) — Wales will head into the Rugby World Cup with co-captains, hooker Dewi Lake and flanker Jac…
CARDIFF, Wales (AP) — Wales will head into the Rugby World Cup with co-captains, hooker Dewi Lake and flanker Jac Morgan getting the honor when the 33-man squad was announced on Monday.
Ken Owens was ruled out because of a back injury, forcing coach Warren Gatland to pick a new captain for the tournament in France starting Sept. 8.
Gatland has chosen to go with two captains. The 23-year-old Morgan isn’t a surprise, having led the Welsh in their most recent warmup game — a 52-16 loss to South Africa on Saturday.
Wales, which has reached the semifinals in two of the last three World Cups, is in the same pool as Fiji, Portugal, Australia and Georgia. The team’s opening game is against Fiji in Bordeaux on Sept. 10.
Seventeen of the squad have previous World Cup experience, with center George North set to appear in the tournament for the fourth time.
Loosehead prop Corey Domachowski and tighthead Henry Thomas won their first senior caps for Wales this month.
No. 8 Taulupe Faletau and flyhalf Gareth Anscombe were picked despite being injury concerns.
“The toughest part of the job is always selection and this is particularly the case when it comes to picking a World Cup squad,” Gatland said.
“Over the past three months the whole group of 48 players in the wider training squad has been outstanding in terms of attitude and effort, so having to reduce the squad down to the final 33 has been really hard and there have been some close final decisions in the last 36 hours.”
Gatland said his squad contained a mixture of “talent and experience.”
“We cannot wait to get out there and get started in this tournament,” he said. “We look forward to what lies ahead for this group.”
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Forwards: Taine Basham, Adam Beard, Elliot Dee, Corey Domachowski, Ryan Elias, Taulupe Faletau, Tomas Francis, Dafydd Jenkins, Dewi Lake (co-captain), Dylan 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.
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