Congratulations Will Rowlands

[Peej]

Back to full fitness, and called up to the Wales squad for the 6 Nations!

[Neils]

Congrats but sh1t another one potentially missing when needed by us. Selfish but realistic

[Peej]

Didn't even know he was eligible!

He won't miss the whole tournament, and will be available when not required as there's no player release agreement with Wales. But he'll probably miss the Sarries game.

[BG]

Where has this been reported?

I wasn't even aware he was eligible.. but how does he qualify under the Wales selection policy if he's playing outside of Wales?

[Rossm]

Wales squad for 2020 Six Nations
Forwards: Rhys Carre (Saracens), Rob Evans (Scarlets), Wyn Jones (Scarlets), Elliot Dee (Dragons), Ryan Elias (Scarlets), Ken Owens (Scarlets), Leon Brown (Dragons), WillGriff John (Sale), Dillon Lewis (Blues), Jake Ball (Scarlets), Adam Beard (Ospreys), Seb Davies (Blues), Alun Wyn Jones (capt; Ospreys), Will Rowlands (Wasps), Cory Hill (Dragons), Aaron Shingler (Scarlets), Aaron Wainwright (Dragons), Taulupe Faletau (Bath), Ross Moriarty (Dragons), Josh Navidi (Blues), Justin Tipuric (Ospreys).

Backs: Gareth Davies (Scarlets), Rhys Webb (Toulon), Tomos Williams (Blues), Dan Biggar (Northampton), Owen Williams (Gloucester), Jarrod Evans (Blues), Hadleigh Parkes (Scarlets), Nick Tompkins (Saracens), Owen Watkin (Ospreys), George North (Ospreys), Josh Adams (Blues), Owen Lane (Blues), Johnny McNicholl (Scarlets), Louis Rees-Zammit (Gloucester), Jonah Holmes (Leicester Tigers), Leigh Halfpenny (Scarlets), Liam Williams (Saracens).

[Neils]

Gatland Law been lifted?

No place for YY though.

[Rossm]

Will Rowlands (born 19 September 1991) is a Welsh rugby union player who plays for Wasps in the Aviva Premiership and was named in the Wales 2020 6 nations squad.

Wow. Quick update in Wikipedia.

[Raggs]

Players only have to play in Wales after they've been recognised. They can finish out their contract whereever they are first. So basically, Wales have likely put us in a position to start looking for a replacement unfortunately.

[HDAWG]

Interesting, good on him! and yet no YY.

According to Welsh fans, debutants are fine, but you must have the intention of moving to Wales first.

E.g. Webb hasn't been selected for ages but he now has the intention of going to Ospreys now he can be picked again.
Or Rowlands hasn't played any games so gets an opportunity. If he gets capped he has to have intention of moving back to Wales before he's capped again.

By that Logic YY isn't going back to Wales?

And Raggs, that's only if Rowlands is considered the future and is serious contender for starting lock and certain of caps.

[welsh wasp]

Well I'm pleased twice over. I remember his great try at Bristol last season.

Louis Rees-Zammit is in the same situation as Will, as was Carre. He has just signed an extension to his Gloucester contract so can stay there for 2-3 years Not sure how long Will's contract has to go.The interesting issue is whether Pivac will change the policy of not selecting players based outside Wales. It limits his choices and also limits the options for players who can probably get a better contract in England.

Will gets in because his father is Welsh. Tomkins , from a nameless club, gets in because one of his grandmothers was Welsh. Not quite as bad as Brett Simpkinson who was selected because of his Welsh grandmother without anyone checking until someone did and it was not true.

The reality is than Will is one of 6 second rows in the Wales squad. I suspect he might have an outing against Italy and that might be it - but he will have had an opportunity. YY also has hard competition. 6 back-rowers in the squad plus James Davies who is not included.

[BG]

Interesting, good on him! and yet no YY.

According to Welsh fans, debutants are fine, but you must have the intention of moving to Wales first.

E.g. Webb hasn't been selected for ages but he now has the intention of going to Ospreys now he can be picked again.
Or Rowlands hasn't played any games so gets an opportunity. If he gets capped he has to have intention of moving back to Wales before he's capped again.

By that Logic YY isn't going back to Wales?

And Raggs, that's only if Rowlands is considered the future and is serious contender for starting lock and certain of caps.

So does this means Tomkins and Rowlands are heading to Wales at the end of the season?? Or does that depend on whether they earn a cap and then have to decide.

Surely they won't have been selected if they haven't given an indication that they would be willing to move, else its a waste of time Pivac selecting them?

Also.. does that mean Rowlands was never EQP anyway or will that all change if he earns a cap?

Good grief.. talk about complicated

[AKWasp]

Interesting, good on him! and yet no YY.

According to Welsh fans, debutants are fine, but you must have the intention of moving to Wales first.

E.g. Webb hasn't been selected for ages but he now has the intention of going to Ospreys now he can be picked again.
Or Rowlands hasn't played any games so gets an opportunity. If he gets capped he has to have intention of moving back to Wales before he's capped again.

By that Logic YY isn't going back to Wales?

And Raggs, that's only if Rowlands is considered the future and is serious contender for starting lock and certain of caps.

So does this means Tomkins and Rowlands are heading to Wales at the end of the season?? Or does that depend on whether they earn a cap and then have to decide.

Surely they won't have been selected if they haven't given an indication that they would be willing to move, else its a waste of time Pivac selecting them?

Also.. does that mean Rowlands was never EQP anyway or will that all change if he earns a cap?

Good grief.. talk about complicated

I’ll try answer the Qs providing Gatland’s Law is still in place:

1. If they are capped, Tomkins and Rowlands will have to move to a welsh region at the end of their current contract if they still desire to be selected for Wales.

2. I think they select first and then decide on movements later- it’s an incentive to get players to move to Wales.

3. Will will remain EQP until he gets a cap for Wales as he technically could still play for England. Whether he could remain as EQP or academy graduate in terms of the cap, I don’t know- but it shouldn’t be Wasps fault for England not picking him.


All of this could be irrelevant if they decide to scrap Gatland’s Law, especially since Owen Williams is back in the squad and he doesn’t qualify. He may however be moving back to Wales at the end of the season and will therefore qualify.

Tried to make it less complicated but I feel like I might have left even more questions rather than answers!

[HDAWG]

AKWasp summarised it perfectly.

[BG]

If Gatland's law is still in place then Pivac is really stretching the boundaries of interpretation.

The PRL clubs and Toulon are under no obligation to release their employees outside of the international window though.

PRL clubs only release their players for training camps etc because of the EPS agreement between PRL and the RFU.

[Raggs]

If Gatland's law is still in place then Pivac is really stretching the boundaries of interpretation.

The PRL clubs and Toulon are under no obligation to release their employees outside of the international window though.

PRL clubs only release their players for training camps etc because of the EPS agreement between PRL and the RFU.

Gatlands law allowed for new players outside of Wales to be picked, and for those on the same contract to be continued to be picked. That's how Francis kept getting to play.