Autumn Nations Series | Morgan and Lake named as Wales co-captains for World Cup

by Ben Hart

Jac Morgan and Dewi Lake will co-captain Wales at the 2023 Rugby World Cup as Warren Gatland finalised his 33-man squad for the tournament in France.

Neither player has prior World Cup experience but they share the responsibility of leading a Wales squad with a fresh feel.

Sixteen of the chosen 33 will be new to the global showpiece including props Henry Thomas and Corey Domachowski, who made their debuts during the Summer Nations Series

At the other end of the spectrum, centre George North, Wales’ most-capped senior men’s back with 114 appearances, will compete in his fourth Rugby World Cup.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Dyma’r 33 chwaraewr fydd yn cynrychioli tair miliwn o bobl Cymru.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 The 33 players ready to represent the 3 million people of Wales#WelshRugby | #ViveLeCymru pic.twitter.com/H3ry1ZLAsZ

— Welsh Rugby Union 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 (@WelshRugbyUnion) August 21, 2023

Fly-half Dan Biggar, Wales’ second most-capped back behind North with 109 appearances, scrum-half Gareth Davies, tighthead prop Tomas Francis, blindside flanker Dan Lydiate and full-backs Leigh Halfpenny and Liam Williams will all compete in their third Rugby World Cup.

Twenty-year old second row Dafydd Jenkins (Exeter Chiefs) is the youngest member of the squad.

Commenting on the selection process, Gatland said: “The toughest part of the job is always selection and this is particularly the case when it comes to picking a Rugby World Cup squad.

“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.

“But we can only take 33 players and those we have selected we think offer a good combination in terms of talent and experience.

“We have a few more training sessions here in Wales before we depart for France on 3 September and we cannot wait to get out there and get started in this tournament. We look forward to what lies ahead for this group.

“This will be a very proud moment for these players, their families and friends and I’d like to congratulate them all on the achievement.”

WALES WORLD CUP SQUAD

FORWARDS (19)
Taine Basham (13 caps)
Adam Beard (47 caps)
Elliot Dee (43 caps)
Corey Domachowski Cardiff Rugby (2 caps)
Ryan Elias (34 caps)
Taulupe Faletau (100 caps)
Tomas Francis (72 caps)
Dafydd Jenkins (7 caps)
Dewi Lake (9 caps)
Dillon Lewis (51 caps)
Dan Lydiate (71 caps)
Jac Morgan Ospreys (11 caps)
Tommy Reffell (10 caps)
Will Rowlands (25 caps)
Nicky Smith (44 caps)
Gareth Thomas (22 caps)
Henry Thomas (2 caps)
Christ Tshiunza (7 caps)
Aaron Wainwright (39 caps)

BACKS (14)
Josh Adams (50 Caps)
Gareth Anscombe (35 caps)
Dan Biggar (109 Caps)
Sam Costelow (4 caps)
Gareth Davies (69 Caps)
Rio Dyer (9 caps)
Mason Grady (4 caps)
Leigh Halfpenny (100 Caps)
George North (114 Caps)
Louis Rees-Zammit (27 caps)
Nick Tompkins (28 caps)
Johnny Williams (6 caps)
Liam Williams (85 Caps)
Tomos Williams (48 Caps)