Steve Tandy has spoken of his excitement at being able to recall Saracens prop Rhys Carre to his first squad as Wales head coach.
Carre, 27, has not played for his country since 2023 and was ineligible under the Welsh Rugby Union’s selection policy because he has 20 caps, five short of the required number for those playing for clubs outside Wales.
But there are loopholes, as demonstrated when Wales selected Jarrod Evans in the Six Nations earlier this year despite the Harlequins fly-half having fewer than 25 caps – because he was not given a reasonable offer to remain with former club Cardiff.
It seems the same applies to Carre, who left Cardiff last year to join Saracens for a second time.
He was overlooked under previous Wales head coach Warren Gatland, but Tandy is glad to be able to bring the prop in from the cold.
“The Professional Rugby Board have approved him to play. That gives me real excitement to have him available for us and to bring him into the autumn,” said the former Scotland defence coach.
“The way he’s playing for Saracens is outstanding. Saracens are playing really well at the minute and he’s having huge impacts. It’s really exciting to have him back. We’ve got some really good loose-heads but it adds to that depth which is great.”
