Nations Championship: Wales suffer Dafydd Jenkins injury

Cardiff loose-head prop Reece Barratt and Dragons back-row forwards Harry Keady and Ryan Woodman all made their international debuts at Twickenham, but were left out of the squad for the three Tests.

Wings Gabriel Hamer-Webb and Tom Rogers, centers Brian Bradley and Joe Roberts, fly-half Jarrod Evans, scrum-half Ellis Bevan, lock or flanker Freddie Thomas and back-row forward Ollie Cracknell are also missing.

Leicester open-side flanker Tommy Raffel makes the cut after being overlooked by Tandy for the autumn internationals and Six Nations.

“We have selected a squad of 33 players for the Nations Championship to reflect what will be needed for the 2027 World Cup,” said the head coach, who cut 11 players and lost Jenkins.

“We’re creating a lot of competition between players on our team, which is what we want, and there were some tough calls.

“We have an exciting opportunity in a new competition over the next three weeks and can’t wait to start our campaign against Fiji on Saturday.”

Louis Rees-Jammitt, Max Llewellyn, Tomos Williams, Rhys Carré, Nicky Smith, James and Raphael Ba-Bass missed out as they played for English clubs, but all returned for the Nations Championship.

The loss of Jenkins means Tandy are down to three specialist locks – Ben Carter, Teddy Williams and Adam Beard, who are fresh inclusions from playing for Montpellier in their Top 14 final defeat to Toulouse on Saturday.

The former Ospreys second-row forward, who lost his starting spot to Carter during the Six Nations, reached the quarter-finals in Paris.

“He’s been with us for two campaigns, he’s battle-hardened and really experienced,” Tandy said of Baird.

Wales have already lost center Louis Hennessy, tight head prop Kieron Assiratti and hooker Liam Belcher to injury before making their squad cuts.