Wales head coach Warren Gatland has named two uncapped players in his squad, for the upcoming Autumn Nations Series. Gatland confirmed his 19 forwards and 16 backs yesterday, with quite the experienced crop of Welsh talents populating the ranks.
There long awaiting recalls to the squad for Gareth Anscombe, Max Llewellyn, Tom Rogers, Nicky Smith and Rhodri Williams, in a Wales squad that has an average age of 25. Wales have quite the busy November schedule, as they are set to take on Fiji, Australia and South Africa at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.
The two players hoping to make their Wales Test debuts are Gloucester second row Freddie Thomas and Scarlets’ wing Blair Murray. Before the duo return to their respective clubs as Test match rugby players, we decided to delve into their careers and find out a bit more about the two newest additions to Gatland’s squad.
Freddie Thomas (Gloucester Rugby)
Freddie Thomas has previously achieved international honours, albeit whilst wearing the colours of the England U20s. The versatile forward made four appearances for the England pathway side during the 2021 U20 Six Nations, which included an eleven minute run out off the bench against his Welsh counterparts. Thomas has been apart of the Gloucester Rugby set-up since joining the academy at U13s level, and made his senior debut in 2020.
Thomas’ first cap in Cherry and White was a six minute cameo against Lyon, in the first round of the 2020 Champions Cup. Since then, Thomas has racked up 47 caps and seven tries in Cherry and White, as well as four additional appearances for Hartpury in the Championship. A prolific battler around the park, that is well suited to both the back row and lock positions, the 22-year-old has a bright future ahead of him, with England fans lets frustrated after seeing him snapped up by Wales.
Blair Murray (Scarlets)
Another exciting talent brought onto the Wales books is Blair Murray, who spent his early years growing up in New Zealand. The explosive wing is also capable of flying out at fullback, and honed his craft with New Plymouth Boys High School in Taraneki. Murray progressed through the New Zealand schoolboy rugby system to earn himself a place at National Provincial club Canterbury, who are a feeder team to the Crusaders in Super Rugby.
However, after an astonishing seven tries in as many Canterbury caps, Murray decided against pursuing the Crusaders career, and the exhilarating 23-year-old arrived in Wales ahead of the current United Rugby Championship season. Murray grabbed his first try for the Scarlets this past weekend, as he crossed over in the impressive 23-22 win against the Bulls. Already off the mark for the Llanelli side, Murray is looking to emulate this on the Test match stage with the first of many tries for Wales.
