Welsh Rugby
Wales call up uncapped Jarvis
ESPN Staff
October 22, 2012
Aaron Jarvis has been named in the Wales squad © PA Photos
Enlarge
Related Links
Players/Officials: Rob Howley | Aaron Jarvis
Teams: Ospreys | Wales

Wales interim coach Rob Howley has named uncapped player Aaron Jarvis in their 35-man squad for the autumn internationals.

Howley has retained Sam Warburton as skipper in a squad that features six players who did not feature in the 34-man party that travelled to Australia in June and suffered a series whitewash. Fit-again Cardiff Blues centre Jamie Roberts is included with Scarlets duo Rob McCusker and Tavis Knoyle also named in the squad.

There is also a place for Ospreys fly-half Dan Biggar who shone for the Welsh region in their clash with the Leicester Tigers on Sunday. Alongside Biggar, Ospreys front-rower Ryan Bevington and Blues prop Scott Andrews also get the nod. Another notable inclusion is Toulon front-rower Gethin Jenkins who takes his place in the squad alongside Perpignan's James Hook and Luke Charteris and Bayonne's Mike Phillips.

The 2012 Six Nations Player of the Tournament Dan Lydiate is omitted due to his ankle injury while sidelined duo Craig Mitchell and Rhodri Jones are also left out. And there is no place for London Welsh's Gavin Henson, Ospreys' Andrew Bishop or Biarritz's Aled Brew.

Wales start their campaign against Argentina on November 10 and then face Samoa the following Friday evening. Howley will take charge of both of those matches and will have head coach Warren Gatland alongside him for their matches with New Zealand on November 24 and Australia on December 1. Gatland will then focus on his British & Irish Lions duties while Howley leads the Grand Slam winners into the 2013 Six Nations.

The draw for the 2015 World Cup will take place at the start of December and Howley will try and guide his team into the top four spots in the International Rugby Board rankings so that they go into the pot as one of the top seeds. Wales currently sit in sixth and Howley has also called on his team to produce a series of impressive performances in the autumn Tests, but first they will return to Poland for a training camp.

"We are really pleased with the strength and depth of the squad with some pleasing individual performances over the last three or four weeks, but we all understand and realise the skill, physicality and intensity will go up over the next five weeks," Howley said. "This is one of the reasons we are going back to our training camp in Poland to sharpen minds and bodies.

"Argentina are first up and after the experience they have gained in the Rugby Championship they will be a challenging and tough opponent, but this is a challenge we will look forward too. We know how important momentum is going into any series and the bigger picture is the Rugby World Cup draw at the beginning of December and how we perform against the Pumas, Samoa, the All Blacks and the Wallabies will have a direct effect on our seeding in that draw.

"We need a successful November to back up our performances at the World Cup in New Zealand and the Six Nations Grand Slam earlier this year and we are determined to achieve it."

Wales squad:

Forwards: S Andrews (Cardiff Blues), R Bevington (Ospreys), P James (Bath), A Jarvis (Ospreys), G Jenkins (Toulon), A Jones (Ospreys), R Hibbard (Ospreys), K Owens (Scarlets), M Rees (Scarlets), B Davies (Cardiff Blues), L Charteris (Perpignan), I Evans (Ospreys), A-W Jones (Ospreys), T Faletau (Newport Gwent Dragons), R Jones (Ospreys), R McCusker (Scarlets), A Shingler (Scarlets), J Tipuric (Ospreys), J Turnbull (Scarlets), S Warburton (Cardiff Blues, capt).

Backs: L Halfpenny (Cardiff Blues), Liam Williams (Scarlets), A Cuthbert (Cardiff Blues), G North (Scarlets), H Robinson (Cardiff Blues), A Beck (Ospreys), J Davies (Scarlets), J Roberts (Cardiff Blues), S Williams (Scarlets), D Biggar (Ospreys), J Hook (Perpignan), R Priestland (Scarlets), T Knoyle (Scarlets), M Phillips (Bayonne), Lloyd Williams (Cardiff Blues).

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

Live Sports

Communication error please reload the page.