Bristol Bears star Callum Sheedy has been named as one of four fly-halves in Wales’ squad to prepare for the Autumn internationals.
Sheedy, who has 12 caps for Wales having made his debut against Ireland a year ago, has been named alongside Ospreys’ Gareth Anscombe, Cardiff Rugby’s Rhys Priestland and Northampton Saints’ Dan Biggar.
Priestland returns to the squad for the first time since making his last international appearance against New Zealand, in November 2017 having switched Bath for United Rugby Championship side Cardiff this summer, while Anscombe is include for the first time since 2019 having suffered two years of injury hell.
The good news for Bristol director of rugby Pat Lam is Ioan Lloyd has not been called up by Wayne Pivac on this occasion meaning the 20-year-old, two cap international can step up to fill Sheedy’s shoes at fly-half for the Bears with Sam Bedlow and Tiff Eden as cover behind him.
Sheedy will not be eligible to play Wales’ first game of the Autumn against the New Zealand All Blacks as the fixture falls outside of the international window, meaning all players from the Gallagher Premiership will instead play for their clubs.
An additional bonus for the Bears this Autumn is with Covid-19 rules being relaxed and the players not going into bubbles, should Sheedy not be named in a matchday squad he will be able to return in midweek to play for Bristol at the weekends.
Discussing his selection, Wales head coach Pivac said: “We understand that the opening game against the All Blacks is outside of the international window but I believe that we all need this game, after what has been a particularly difficult time for everyone because of the global pandemic,” said Pivac.
“It will be fantastic to play in front of a capacity crowd once again, with a number of these players getting to experience that for the first time.
“This has been one of the most difficult selections I’ve had to make with less rugby than would have normally taken place ahead of a campaign in addition to injuries and player unavailability.
“When you look at selection you want to select in-form players but it’s fair to say that a number of players haven’t hit their top form. We have looked at past performances at this level, including a very successful Six Nations campaign, and we’ve cross-credit some of that information into current form if you like.
“Injuries in certain positions, particularly at openside, have forced us to look a little bit deeper than we would normally but what it does mean is that more players have an opportunity to be exposed to this level of rugby. This can only be a good thing as we continue our preparations for the 2023 World Cup.”
Forwards: Wyn Jones (Scarlets), Rhodri Jones (Ospreys), Rhys Carre (Cardiff), Ken Owens (Scarlets), Elliot Dee (Dragons), Ryan Elias (Scarlets), Dillon Lewis (Cardiff), WillGriff John (Scarlets), Tomas Francis (Ospreys), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys), Adam Beard (Ospreys), Will Rowlands (Dragons), Ben Carter (Dragons), Seb Davies (Cardiff), Christ Tshiunza (Exeter), Ross Moriarty (Dragons), Thomas Young (Wasps), Taine Basham (Dragons), Ellis Jenkins (Cardiff), Aaron Wainwright (Dragons), Taulupe Faletau (Bath).
Backs: Tomos Williams (Cardiff), Gareth Davies (Scarlets), Keiran Hardy (Scarlets), Gareth Anscombe (Ospreys), Rhys Priestland (Cardiff), Dan Biggar (Northampton), Callum Sheedy (Bristol) , Johnny Williams (Scarlets), Jonathan Davies (Scarlets), Nick Tompkins (Saracens), Willis Halaholo (Cardiff), Ben Thomas (Cardiff), Josh Adams (Cardiff), Owen Lane (Cardiff), Louis Rees-Zammit (Gloucester), Johnny McNicholl (Scarlets), Liam Williams (Scarlets)
