Tandy Names 39-Man Wales Squad, Recalls Rio Dyer — SkimNews
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- Steve Tandy named a 39-man Wales squad for the November Nations Championship, his fourth selection since taking charge in summer 2025, including uncapped trio Aneurin Owen, Che Hope and Rhys Barratt alongside recalls for Rio Dyer, Seb Davies, Taine Basham and Gabriel Hamer-Webb.
- Taulupe Faletau was the headline omission along with Elliot Dee, Bryn Bradley, Mason Grady and Tommy Reffell, with Tandy later revealing Reffell had suffered a knee injury.
- Rio Dyer's recall was justified by Tandy's praise that "some of his aerial contests have been better than anyone in Wales," after the Dragons back missed the Six Nations and summer Tests.
- In-form Scarlets wing Macs Page, with four tries in four appearances and nine line breaks, missed out as Tandy favoured depth, naming Josh Adams, Ellis Mee, Blair Murray, Tom Rogers, Louis Rees-Zammit, Dyer and Hamer-Webb in his back-three options.
- Seb Davies earned a surprise inclusion after not featuring for Wales since facing Italy in the 2022 Six Nations, with Tandy telling Scrum V of "the emotional outpouring of being involved with the squad" following a recent alignment camp.
- Tandy has used 54 players across 13 games in charge and faces a 33-player cap for next year's World Cup in Australia, where Wales open against Zimbabwe with 12-13 matches of preparation remaining.
- Eddie James is set to start against Japan in the Nations Championship opener, with Tandy confirming he sees the powerful back as a 13 who can play 12 — despite James starting Scarlets' opening two games of the season at inside centre.
Why it matters: With the World Cup in Australia roughly a year away and a hard 33-player tournament squad limit, Tandy's 54-player usage across 13 Tests shows the selection puzzle is far from solved — yet he is still handing out first caps (Owen, Hope, Barratt) and recalling Seb Davies after a three-year Wales absence rather than narrowing his options. The flip side is that established figures like Faletau are already being left out, sharpening the competition for every shirt before the plane to Australia is booked.
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