Wales head coach Wayne Pivac has outlined his plans leading up to the Rugby World Cup to an extended group of players.
The get-together, thought to have involved a group of ‘50 to 60’, is believed to have seen the coach flag up important dates and details on the road to 2023. Three summer warm-up matches against England and South Africa are already scheduled, while a pre-tournament training camp in Switzerland and Turkey is also planned for next summer.
Pivac will likely draw his World Cup squad from those given the briefing, albeit the New Zealander will be flexible enough to take into account form and injuries as the campaign unfolds, with bolters a feature of pretty much every global-tournament squad.
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It is believed Ospreys loose-head Nicky Smith was among those invited, despite being left out in the cold over the past year.
The 28-year-old last played for Wales in the summer of 2021 but has been in form this season, receiving plaudits for his efforts. On Friday, he was part of an Ospreys scrum that URC champions the Stormers got little change out of in Swansea.
There were also plenty of young players in attendance, with Scarlets fly-half Sam Costelow understood to have been among them.
With his eye for a gap and rapid turn of pace, the 21-year-old has also begun the campaign well.
Max Llewellyn isn’t thought to have attended, but since the meeting took place the powerful centre has burst through with a number of impressive performances for Cardiff which could hardly have failed to catch Pivac’s eye. Just possibly, if he maintains his form over the campaign, opportunities could open up for the 6ft 5in, 16st 7lb player.
Rhys Davies and Rio Dyer have been among others who have been playing well.
World Cup squads are being increased in size for 2023, with countries each allowed to select 33 players for the tournament in France, up two from the event in Japan three years ago.
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