Star Gloucester Rugby duo surprise absentees from Wales' Six Nations squad
Warren Gatland has opted to leave veteran Gloucester Rugby fly-half Gareth Anscombe out of his Wales squad for the 2025 Guinness Six Nations, opting to look to the future by allowing uncapped Ospreys fly-half Dan Edwards to “stake a bit of a claim."
There is no place for experienced Gloucester number 10 Anscombe or his clubmate centre partner Max Llewellyn who is the top try scorer in the Gallagher Premiership this season, with scrum-half Tomos Williams, Josh Hathaway and Freddie Thomas making the cut from the Premiership side.
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Gatland's selection in the key playmaker position is all the more curious considering Scarlets fly-half Sam Costelow misses out after fracturing his collarbone in Friday night's defeat to Gloucester in the Challenge Cup that will sideline him for the whole tournament, leaving Edwards and Ben Thomas as starting options. Anscombe picked up a knock to his knee against Sale Sharks earlier this month but Cherry and Whites director of rugby George Skivington confirmed his injury isn't significant.
Skivington said: "He is alright. He just took a bang last week and came off at half time. He wasn't ready to go again this week so we gave him the opportunity to recover. It is nothing of concern. We have got plenty of cover there with Santi Carreras, George Barton and Charlie Atkinson and they are all in good form."
On Edwards, Wales head coach Gatland said: “We were hoping to have him in, in the autumn, but unfortunately he had a groin strain and picked up a head knock, so we didn’t get a chance to look at him. We have been impressed in terms of the way that he’s played. He has matured nicely into looking like a quality 10.
“It is the one position where we’ve spoken about trying to develop some strength in depth. Someone like him gets an opportunity to stake a bit of a claim. We have been impressed with how he has controlled games. His kicking game has developed in recent times, and he has got a good running game, too.
“We know Gareth has a lot of experience. One of the things we talked about is he’s 33 now and he will be 36 by the next World Cup. Will he be around? We need to develop some options in that position.”
Costelow apart, other injury absentees include Lake’s fellow hooker Ryan Elias, Ospreys lock Adam Beard, Bath prop Archie Griffin and Cardiff back Mason Grady, while Max Llewellyn, Cameron Winnett, Rio Dyer and Taine Plumtree failed to make the selection cut.
Gatland, meanwhile, has handed recalls to experienced campaigners Taulupe Faletau – who has not played for Wales since the 2023 World Cup because of injury – Josh Adams and Liam Williams. Ospreys hooker Sam Parry, who walked out of the Wales squad last summer, is also back, along with Sale prop WillGriff John and Scarlets centre Joe Roberts.
Wales have lost their last 12 Test matches and are without an international victory since beating Georgia in Nantes 15 months ago.
They face a daunting Six Nations opener against France in Paris on January 31, which is followed by a Rome appointment with Italy eight days later. Wales’ miserable autumn campaign saw a Welsh Rugby Union review conducted into the national squad’s performances, with a further assessment planned after the Six Nations.
Gatland added: “We know it is about performances and results. Those first two games are really important for us. That game in Paris will be tough, then it’s the Italy game. It is about momentum. You get some good results and you never know what can happen in this tournament.
“I am pretty aware of the situation we are in as a group of coaches. We’ve got to go out and work hard to show improvements and perform well.”