Loose head, Gareth Thomas, has been added to the squad for Wales’ summer tour while tight head, Rhodri Jones, been called into this week’s training camp in North Wales as injury cover.
It’s a first ever senior international call-up for 23-year old Thomas, who has been with the Ospreys since the summer of 2014 and has made 35 regional appearances to date.
Although it is his first time in a senior Wales squad he was an integral part of a successful Wales U20 squad that reached the Junior World Championship semi-final in 2012 before going one better a year a later and reaching the final for the first time.
He gets his call after Rob Evans of the Scarlets was forced to withdraw with a hand injury.
Meanwhile, Wales have turned to Jones with another Scarlet, Samson Lee, set to undergo a scan on Tuesday on a knee injury picked up in the PRO12 final at the weekend. Jones, who has featured 24 times in his first season as an Osprey, had already made 14 Wales appearances, the last of which came in a 27-13 defeat to England at Twickenham a year ago on Monday.
The Scarlets’ Rhys Patchell has also been called into the training squad as cover for Exeter Chiefs' Phil Dollman who will also undergo scans on Tuesday for a knee injury, sustained in yesterday’s Aviva Premiership final.
With James King ruled out of the tour earlier this week and Thomas’ full call-up confirmed, it means that the Ospreys currently in the full tour squad are:
Nicky Smith, Gareth Thomas, Scott Baldwin, Adam Beard, Rory Thornton, Sam Davies and Keelan Giles. Incoming centre, Cory Allen, who has signed a two year deal with the region and will join from the Blues this summer, is also in the full squad, with prop Jones reporting for duty this week.
The squad arrived in Colwyn Bay on Sunday for their training camp, which culminates in a match against RGC 1404 on Friday night (Parc Eirias, 7pm, S4C)
Head Coach, Robin McBryde, said:
"We are looking forward to a good week's training together as a squad at the fantastic Parc Eirias facilities and Friday's match will be an important part of our preparation before facing Samoa and Tonga.
"We have to accept that injuries are part and parcel of rugby at the very top level and we will wait medical opinion following scans to Samson and Phil on Tuesday before making any further decisions."
