Welsh squad announced for 6N

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Warren Gatland and Gavin Henson
WALES coach Warren Gatland has named Gavin Henson in his 35-man Six Nations squad.

Henson returns to the Wales set-up despite facing the axe from the Cardiff Blues squad for this weekend's crunch Heineken Cup showdown with Racing Metro.

World Cup skipper Sam Warburton keeps the armband for the tournament, while all of Wales' exiled French contingent are selected despite only being able to attend three days of Gatland's pre-tournament training camp in Poland.

James Hook, Lee Byrne and Mike Phillips are joined by Blues and Lions centre Jamie Roberts, who is also included despite currently suffering from a knee injury.

Scarlets outside-half Stephen Jones is the only big-name casualty from the World Cup squad as Gatland looks to the future.

Wales head to the Spala training centre for a seven-day camp at the beginning of next week, with the squad set to be trimmed down ahead of the big Six Nations kick-off against Ireland on February 5.

The Wales coach has stuck with the majority of his much hailed Rugby World Cup side, adding just four players who did not feature in either his extended 45-man pre-RWC training squad or the December international against Australia at the Millennium Stadium at the start of this season.

Saracens prop Rhys Gill, uncapped Ospreys pair Ashley Beck and Rhys Webb and young Blues wing Harry Robinson are the only players in the squad who have not been in the international selector’s plans this season so far, with Gill earning his only international cap two years ago as a Six Nations replacement against Ireland.

Robinson, Webb, Beck, Scarlets prop Rhodri Jones and colleague Liam Williams – who both featured in the training squad which faced the Wallabies last month – and Scarlets lock Lou Reed (lock) are the only uncapped players selected.

Gatland is confident he has the right blend of youth, talent and experience to mount a Six Nations title challenge next month, which begins with a Celtic double header against Ireland, away, and Scotland, at home at the Millennium Stadium, on the first two weekends in February.

“We have had to strike a balance with this squad, the majority are those players who excelled for Wales during the Rugby World Cup, but are also taking the opportunity to look at one or two youngsters before probably cutting our numbers even further before the start of the RBS 6 Nations,” said Gatland.

“We have kept a couple of older heads and we have injuries, with Alun Wyn Jones, Josh Turnbull, Rob McCusker and Luke Charteris all unavailable to us, but the emphasis on development and planning for the future is there for everyone to see.

“These are exciting times for Welsh rugby, we showed a huge amount of potential at the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand and we will be working as hard as humanly possible to ensure that we reach our potential in this year’s 6 Nations championship.”

WALES SQUAD

BACKS

Mike PHILLIPS (BAYONNE)

Lloyd WILLIAMS (CARDIFF BLUES)

Rhys WEBB (OSPREYS)

Rhys PRIESTLAND (SCARLETS)

James HOOK (PERPIGNAN)

Jamie ROBERTS (CARDIFF BLUES)

Jonathan DAVIES (SCARLETS)

Scott WILLIAMS (SCARLETS)

Gavin HENSON (CARDIFF BLUES)

Ashley BECK (OSPREYS – Uncapped)

George NORTH (SCARLETS)

Leigh HALFPENNY (CARDIFF BLUES)

Alex CUTHBERT (CARDIFF BLUES)

Harry ROBINSON (CARDIFF BLUES)

Liam WILLIAMS (SCARLETS – Uncapped)

Lee BYRNE (ASM CLERMONT AUVERGNE)

FORWARDS

Craig MITCHELL (EXETER CHIEFS)

Adam JONES (OSPREYS)

Ryan BEVINGTON (OSPREYS)

Gethin JENKINS (CARDIFF BLUES)

Paul JAMES (OSPREYS)

Rhys GILL (SARACENS)

Rhodri JONES (SCARLETS – Uncapped)

Matthew REES (SCARLETS)

Huw BENNETT (OSPREYS)

Ken OWENS (SCARLETS)

Bradley DAVIES (BLUES)

Ian EVANS (OSPREYS)

Lou REED (SCARLETS – Uncapped)

Ryan JONES (OSPREYS)

Dan LYDIATE (NEWPORT GWENT DRAGONS)

Sam WARBURTON (CARDIFF BLUES, CAPTAIN)

Justin TIPURIC (OSPREYS)

Toby FALETAU (Dragons)

Andy POWELL (Sale)

Tox56

Dammit we should just go to Poland too. Whatever they do up there it's working.

Sindri

I think I can sum up all of our feelings on this matter.


The b*******.