Wales lock Will Rowlands in contention to face England as Racing 92 star joins up with Warren Gatland’s squad after missing Six Nations opener following birth of his child
- Will Rowlands trained with Wales on Monday after missing the defeat to Scotland
- He is determined to take action against his native country on Saturday
- Rowlands was born in Hammersmith but qualifies for Wales through his father
Wales look to be boosted by the return of Will Rowlands for their meeting with England at Twickenham after the Racing 92 lock joined Warren Gatland’s squad.
Rowlands, 32, has 29 caps and is a first-choice starter for Wales when available.
He has been an international regular since his Test debut in 2020 and briefly captained Gatland’s side at the World Cup last year.
But the former Wasps man missed Wales’ thrilling 27-26 Six Nations defeat by Scotland in Cardiff last Saturday as he had not yet met Gatland’s side.
‘Will has not yet been included in the selection. His wife had a baby in France a few weeks ago and unfortunately there were some complications,” Gatland said last week.
Wales have been boosted by the return of Will Rowlands for Saturday’s match with England
“So the message to him is: stay home and be with your family. We always talk about how important that is and he’ll come along when he’s ready.”
Rowlands trained with Wales on Monday after being given the first week of the 2024 tournament off. He is determined to be in action against his native country this weekend. Rowlands was born in Hammersmith but qualifies for Wales through his father.
He is part of the star-studded Racing 92 team, which already includes South Africa’s two-time World Cup-winning captain Siya Kolisi and England’s Tyro Henry Arundell.
From next season, Rowlands will also be teammates with former England captain Owen Farrell and his place in Stuart Lancaster’s side is a reflection of his undoubted quality.
His expected availability for England is an undoubted boost for Gatland, who now faces a tough choice as to who to start as his lock-pair of Dafydd Jenkins, Adam Beard and Rowlands.
Jenkins, 21, is Wales’ captain for this Six Nations, meaning that if Gatland deems Rowlands ready to start at Twickenham, it will likely be Beard who drops to the bench.
Adam Beard could be dropped to the bench to make way for Rowlands’ return to Twickenham
Wales will face Steve Borthwick’s England – who beat Italy in the first round – without a specialist fly-half after Sam Costelow suffered a head injury in the defeat to Scotland.
If he doesn’t recover, Scarlets’ Ioan Lloyd is favorite to make the 10th spot, while Cai Evans – another who can play in multiple positions – is likely to make the bench.
Lloyd played a good role for Costelow against Scotland in what was only his third cap, but he is part of an inexperienced Wales team for this Six Nations, which has an average age of just 25.
Gatland will also recall Test centurion George North for England. North missed the match against Scotland due to a lack of training minutes after a shoulder injury, but is now fit again.