Rugby Union - Six Nations Championship - Italy v Wales - Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy - March 11, 2023 Wales' Alun Wyn Jones during the warm up before the match REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane/File Photo
(Reuters) - Wales coach Warren Gatland named a squad of 23 to take on former captain Alun Wyn Jones and the Barbarians in Cardiff on Nov. 4, with 16 retained players from their Rugby World Cup campaign in France that ended in quarter-final defeat to Argentina.
Gatland will be without a significant number of his leading players through injury and the inability to call on those contracted to clubs in England, France and Japan as the fixture falls outside of the international window.
Dan Biggar, Louis Rees-Zammit, Gareth Davies, Josh Adams and Liam Williams are all missing, but co-captains from the World Cup, hooker Dewi Lake and flanker Jac Morgan, will play.
Props Keiron Assiratti and Leon Brown, locks Ben Carter and Teddy Williams, flanker Taine Plumtree, fullback Cai Evans and wing Tom Rogers are the players who did not travel to the World Cup.
The match will be in honour of Jones, who retired from international rugby in May having won a record 170 test caps. The Barbarians will be coached by Australian Eddie Jones and future New Zealand tactician Scott Robertson.
But the game has caused a stir from Welsh clubs, falling over the same weekend as Scarlets play Cardiff in the United Rugby Championship, and Ospreys host South Africa’s Sharks.
"We’ve decided to go with a smaller squad than usual to prepare for the game because we wanted to help the regions as much as we can by not taking too many of their players away," Gatland said in a media release from Welsh Rugby.
"Our next World Cup cycle starts now. When you look at the potential of the players we have coming through it’s exciting. I look forward to working with these players and seeing them develop and grow."
Wales squad to play Barbarians:
Forwards (13): Corey Domachowski, Elliot Dee, Dewi Lake, Nicky Smith, Keiron Assiratti, Leon Brown, Adam Beard, Ben Carter, Teddy Williams, Dan Lydiate, Jac Morgan (captain), Taine Plumtree, Aaron Wainwright
Backs (10): Kieran Hardy, Tomos Williams, Sam Costelow, Cai Evans, Mason Grady, George North, Johnny Williams, Rio Dyer, Leigh Halfpenny, Tom Rogers.
(Reporting by Nick Said; Editing by Toby Davis)
