Former league star called up for Wales and could make debut against Wallabies: Planet Rugby

Warren Gatland was forced to change his starting XI against the Springboks, while Wales’ head coach called up a former rugby league star for July’s internationals.

Wales begin their mid-year Tests with a one-off clash against South Africa at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday, after which they travel for two matches against the Wallabies and one against the Queensland Reds.

Having already named his squad for the international matches and his line-up for the matchday against the back-to-back World Cup winners, Gatland was forced to make changes.

Regan Grace called

Ahead of the Test against South Africa, James Botham was called into the squad to replace an injured Jac Morgan, while late recall James Ratti could make his debut from the bench after being named on Matchday 23 the same day of his arrival. in the camp.

Wales suffered another setback today with winger Keelan Giles released from the squad due to a groin injury suffered in training, and in his place Gatland called up the former St Helens rugby league star, Regan Grace.

This is a somewhat surprising call from the Wales head coach, as Grace is yet to play a competitive rugby union match since the code change in 2022.

He signed a deal to join French Top 14 club Racing 92 during the code jump, but never played for the team after rupturing his Achilles in his final match at St Helens. Another setback saw him released from his contract with Racing 92 at the end of the 2022/23 season.

Welsh rookie: ‘Playing for the Springboks at Twickenham is what you dream of’

Still focused on making the code switch work, Grace linked up with Premiership side Bath where he completed his rehabilitation before signing a deal with the club ahead of next season. Since joining the West Country side, he has only played two friendlies for the team, but is yet to feature in a competitive match.

He could now make his Test debut against the Wallabies in July.

Change for South Africa

Meanwhile, Gatland was forced to change his starting line-up to face the Springboks, with prop Henry Thomas withdrawing from the Test match due to injury.

The player injured his foot in training and was replaced by Keiron Assiratti in the starting line-up, while Harri O’Connor comes into the matchday squad as a substitute.

Wales squad revised against South Africa

Wales: 15 Cameron Winnett, 14 Liam Williams, 13 Owen Watkin, 12 Mason Grady, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Ellis Bevan, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 James Botham, 6 Taine Plumtree, 5 Ben Carter, 4 Matthew Screech, 3 Keiron Assiratti, 2 Dewi Lake, 1 Gareth Thomas
Substitutes: 16 Evan Lloyd, 17 Kemsley Mathias, 18 Harri O’Connor, 19 James Ratti, 20 Mackenzie Martin, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Eddie James, 23 Jacob Beetham

Date: Saturday June 22
Place: Twickenham Stadium, London
To start up: 2:00 p.m. BST (1:00 p.m. GMT, 3:00 p.m. SA time)
Arbitrator: Chris Busby (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Christophe Ridley (England), Adam Leal (England)
TMO: Mark Patton (Ireland)
Blanket: BBC iPlayer, SuperSport, S4C

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