Barratt, Hope and Owen in Wales squad as Lake leads November campaign

Rhys Barratt, Che Hope and Aneurin Owen are the three uncapped players in Steve Tandy’s 39-player Wales squad for the November Nations Championship window. Dewi Lake will captain a group of 22 forwards and 17 backs. Cardiff loose-head prop Barratt joins Dragons scrum-half Hope and centre Owen among the players seeking a first Wales cap. Selection in the squad does not guarantee a Test appearance.

Returnees and the Ospreys contingent

Liam Belcher, Tomas Francis, Archie Griffin, Louie Hennessey and Dafydd Jenkins return after being unavailable for the July window, according to the announcement published by Ospreys. Taine Basham, Seb Davies and Rio Dyer have also been called up. Four Ospreys are included: Gareth Thomas in the forwards, plus Reuben Morgan-Williams, Dan Edwards and Tom Rogers in the backs. Tandy said the group would assemble next week, with preparation focused on the first home game against Japan.

Three home games in Cardiff

Wales host Japan at Principality Stadium on Saturday 7 November, followed by New Zealand on 14 November and Australia on 21 November. The published kick-off times are 4.40pm, 2.10pm and 8.10pm respectively, all GMT. The Ospreys announcement lists live coverage on ITV and S4C for the three home matches. The window is followed by the competition’s Finals Weekend at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, from 27 to 29 November. Wales’ opponent there is not specified in this squad announcement.

The squad in numbers

The 39-player group contains five more forwards than backs. Two of the three uncapped selections are Dragons players, with Barratt the Cardiff representative. The published list records 1,042 caps across the 36 players who have already represented Wales.