Eight Scarlets have been included in Warren Gatland’s 34-man squad for the 2014 Guinness Six Nations.
Prop Kemsley Mathias, hooker Ryan Elias, scrum-halves Gareth Davies and Kieran Hardy, fly-halves Sam Costelow and Ioan Lloyd, centre Joe Roberts and wing/full-back Tom Rogers have been named ahead of the championship opener against Scotland in Cardiff on February 3.
Josh Macleod and Taine Plumtree are ruled out because of injury.
Lloyd’s call-up is reward for an impressive first season in Llanelli following his move from Bristol Bears, while Costelow, Mathias, Roberts and Rogers could also make their Six Nations debuts.
In the absence of injured World Cup co-captains Jac Morgan and Dewi Lake, Exeter’s Dafydd Jenkins will lead Wales into the tournament.
Gatland said: “There’s a little bit of experience in terms of players like George North and Gareth Davies – we wanted a little bit of continuity with that and we’re also thinking about the next RWC cycle and giving some youngsters an opportunity, some youngsters that are not featuring regularly for their club sides.
“I’m really excited about these youngsters and that opportunity to develop them over the next four years. The average age of the squad is about 25 compared to a little bit older during RWC and then you look at this next cycle and you want to get those players to mid to late 20s in terms of experience and age.
“What I’ve learned in the past is that even though we’ve done all that hard work in terms of preparation and build up to the RWC. For me it’s about going back to the start a little bit, going back to honing the basics and hammering away at that and almost like starting again. You have to reset in terms of our goals and what we want to achieve. I think Scotland at home is a good game for us, they’re a quality side, they’ll be disappointed with what happened with them in terms of not getting out of the pool at the World Cup.”
The squad will meet up at the national training base in Hensol on Monday, January 22.
WALES SQUAD FOR 2024 GUINNESS SIX NATIONS
Forwards (19)
Corey Domachowski (Cardiff Rugby / Caerdydd – 6 caps)
Kemsley Mathias (Scarlets – 1 cap)
Gareth Thomas (Ospreys / Gweilch – 26 caps)
Elliot Dee (Dragons / Dreigiau – 46 caps)
Ryan Elias (Scarlets – 38 caps)
Evan Lloyd (Cardiff Rugby – uncapped / heb gap)
Keiron Assiratti (Cardiff Rugby / Caerdydd – 2 caps)
Leon Brown (Dragons / Dreigiau – 23 caps)
Archie Griffin (Bath Rugby – uncapped / heb gap)
Adam Beard (Ospreys / Gweilch – 51 caps)
Dafydd Jenkins (Exeter Chiefs / Caerwysg – 12 caps)
Will Rowlands (Racing 92 – 29 caps)
Teddy Williams (Cardiff Rugby / Caerdydd – 1 cap)
Taine Basham (Dragons / Dreigiau – 16 caps)
James Botham (Cardiff Rugby / Caerdydd – 9 caps)
Alex Mann (Cardiff Rugby / Caerdydd – uncapped / heb gap)
Mackenzie Martin (Cardiff Rugby / Caerdydd – uncapped / heb gap)
Tommy Reffell (Leicester Tigers / Caerlŷr – 13 caps)
Aaron Wainwright (Dragons / Dreigiau – 43 caps)
Backs (15)
Gareth Davies (Scarlets – 74 caps)
Kieran Hardy (Scarlets – 18 caps)
Tomos Williams (Cardiff Rugby / Caerdydd – 53 caps)
Sam Costelow (Scarlets – 8 caps)
Cai Evans (Dragons / Dreigiau – 1 cap)
Ioan Lloyd (Scarlets – 2 caps)
Mason Grady (Cardiff Rugby / Caerdydd – 6 caps)
George North (Ospreys / Gweilch – 118 caps)
Joe Roberts (Scarlets – 1 cap)
Nick Tompkins (Saracens / Saraseniaid – 32 caps)
Owen Watkin (Ospreys / Gweilch – 36 caps)
Josh Adams (Cardiff Rugby / Caerdydd – 53 caps)
Rio Dyer (Dragons / Dreigiau – 14 caps)
Tom Rogers (Scarlets – 3 caps)
Cameron Winnett (Cardiff Rugby / Caerdydd – uncapped / heb gap)