Here’s Wales Squad for Turkey Warmup Fixtures, Taulupe Faletau misses

A calf injury will prevent Taulupe Faletau from traveling to Turkey for Wales’ World Cup training camp.

The eight-day trip will also be missed by Johnny Williams, Joe Roberts, Owen Williams, and Alex Cuthbert.

The quintet will miss the warm-up game against England in Cardiff on 5 August as a result of their absence in Turkey.

Gatland expects the missing five to join up with the rest of Wales’ squad by 23 July.

Wales will face Fiji in their World Cup opener on 10 September. The coach will name his final 33-man squad in late August.

No official explanation has been provided by Wales as to why the five players won’t be travelling to Turkey.

Despite missing the opening week of Cardiff’s two-week trip to Switzerland due to a calf injury, Faletau will continue his recovery in Wales.

He has played 100 internationals for Wales, including three with the British and Irish Lions.

The only specialist number eight in the squad is Faletau, 32, although Aaron Wainwright, Jac Morgan, and Taine Basham have all played in that position for Wales.

Both Owen Williams and Cuthbert missed the Switzerland visit due to personal reasons, but they hoped to make it to Turkey.

Warm-up Fixtures

After returning early from a two-week trip to Switzerland, Scarlets centre Johnny Williams is recovering from a hamstring injury, while Roberts is also injured.

On 5 August, Gatland’s team hosts England, then seven days later travels to Twickenham. Gatland will name his final squad the following week after his final tournament preparation against world champions South Africa on 19 August in Cardiff. Following their opening match against Fiji in Bordeaux, Wales play Portugal, Australia and Georgia in the pool.

“We’re really pleased with how our two-week training camp has gone in Switzerland,” said Gatland.

“The players worked extremely hard and made really good progress.

“We’ve decided to keep a larger group in our squad as we prepare for our three Vodafone Summer Series matches.

“We know injuries unfortunately can be picked up along the way, so it’s important to ensure that as wide a number of players as possible are up to speed with our plans.”

Wales squad for Turkey

Forwards (25): Corey Domachowski, Kemsley Mathias, Nicky Smith, Gareth Thomas, Elliot Dee, Ryan Elias, Dewi Lake, Sam Parry, Keiron Assiratti, Tomas Francis, Dillon Lewis, Henry Thomas, Adam Beard, Ben Carter, Rhys Davies, Dafydd Jenkins, Will Rowlands, Christ Tshiunza, Teddy Williams, Taine Basham, Dan Lydiate, Jac Morgan, Taine Plumtree, Tommy Reffell, Aaron Wainwright.

Backs (18): Gareth Davies, Kieran Hardy, Tomos Williams, Gareth Anscombe, Dan Biggar, Sam Costelow, Mason Grady, Max Llewellyn, George North, Nick Tompkins, Keiran Williams, Josh Adams, Rio Dyer, Cai Evans, Leigh Halfpenny, Louis Rees-Zammit, Tom Rogers, Liam Williams.

Players missing Turkey trip but remain in Wales squad (5): Taulupe Faletau, Joe Roberts, Johnny Williams, Owen Williams, Alex Cuthbert.