Wales

Best ever finish: 1st ( 2005, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2019, 2021)

Grand slams: 4 (2005, 2008, 2012, 2019)

Last year's finish: 6th

Head coach: Steve Tandy

Captain: Dewi Lake

Young player to watch: Dan Edwards

Expectation: Win a game

Prediction: 6th

The struggles in Welsh rugby have continued off the field with things still firmly up in the air and the Ospreys squarely in the firing in line of those in charge. However, what happens at that level remains to be seen and the rugby on the field is also of huge importance.

Wales had a decent Autumn series with a crucial win over Japan securing their space in pot 2 for the World Cup draw. Despite that win, the performance left a lot to be desired; as did a heavy defeat to South Africa in the final game of the year. They did put on a good show against New Zealand, and some young players stepped up, so there are things to look forward to in this tournament for those in red.

The biggest problem for Wales at the moment is their physicality, which is not easily fixed. There has been some improvement with Rhys Carre being one of the biggest beneficiaries of the Tandy takeover. The Saracens prop is a rare physical specimen in this group and, with Nicky Smith, gives Wales a real area of strength at loosehead prop. Dewi Lake captains the side at hooker whilst Wales will need to see more improvements from their options at tighthead prop. Dafydd Jenkins and Freddie Thomas are good options in the second row and are both young enough to be parts of this team for years to come. The Welsh back row will have to temporarily adjust to life without Jac Morgan. Olly Cracknell has long been a reliable performer for Leicester, and brought that to Wales last season, whilst Harri Deaves is an exciting youngster who can capture the imaginations of Welsh fans. 

Tomos Williams will be the key man once again with Dan Edwards continuing to show signs of improvement at fly-half. He is a very promising youngster who could galvanise this team as it rebuilds. Louis Rees-Zammit and Blair Murray will be the big threats in the team whilst Tom Rogers could look to continue his try-scoring streak from last year. There are plenty of questions surrounding the centres. Any number of players can start at either spot so it will be interesting to see which direction Steve Tandy chooses to take with his midfield.

Squad

LHP: Keiron Assiratti, Rhys Carre, Nicky Smith

Hooker: Liam Belcher, Ryan Elias, Dewi Lake(C)

THP: Tomas Francis, Archie Griffin, Gareth Thomas

Lock: Adam Beard, Ben Carter, Dafydd Jenkins, Freddie Thomas

Back row: James Botham, Olly Cracknell, Harri Deaves, Alex Mann, Josh MacLeod, Taine Plumtree, Aaron Wainwright

Scrum-half: Kieran Hardy, Reuben Morgan-Williams, Tomos Williams

Fly-half: Sam Costelow, Dan Edwards, Jarrod Evans

Centre: Joe Hawkins, Louie Hennessey, Eddie James, Ben Thomas, Owen Watkin

Back 3: Josh Adams, Mason Grady, Gabriel Hamer-Webb, Blair Murray, Louis Rees-Zammit, Tom Rogers

Potential 23-man team

1. Nicky Smith 2.Dewi Lake(C) 3.Tomas Francis 4.Dafydd Jenkins 5.Freddie Thomas

6.Olly Cracknell 7.Alex Mann 8.Aaron Wainwright 9.Tomos Williams 10.Dan Edwards

11.Tom Rogers 12.Ben Thomas 13.Eddie James 14.Louis Rees-Zammit 15.Blair Murray

Bench

16.Ryan Elias 17.Rhys Carre 18.Archie Griffin 19.Adam Beard

20.James Botham 21.Kieran Hardy 22.Sam Costelow 23.Louis Hennessey