The Wales head coach spoke after naming his first squad for the autumn internationals and here is everything he said
Steve Tandy named his first squad as Wales head coach on Tuesday, with plenty of talking points in his autumn selection.
There was a surprise return for Rhys Carre, as well as five uncapped players included. With the likes of Louis Rees-Zammit, Joe Hawkins, Callum Sheedy, Rhys Davies and Nick Tompkins all back, it’s fair to say the new boss had left his mark on his first Wales squad.
Here’s everything he had to say afterwards…
How did you find picking your first Wales squad?
“It was probably long for the other coaches but we enjoyed the process. It’s been a window. We’ve watched a lot of footage, watched live games and going to training grounds, speaking to a lot of coaches and getting feedback on players. Yesterday was a pretty long day, and the day before, but it’s been brilliant to be thorough and go through the options we have.
“Then coming to the end point last night, with squad selections, has been great for us. It’s been an awesome process. Going into the autumn and our first campaign has been exciting and we really can’t wait until Monday.”
Was Louis Rees-Zammit always going to be a part of this squad?
“Zammo, when you get someone of the quality of Zammo back, I’ve had conversations with him to see where he was physically. The way he’s come back in, you see what he can do in the game. You saw moments from the Saracens game. The learnings he’d had from American football. I think he was always going to be back in the squad.”
How is Rhys Carre available with just 20 caps?
“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. 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 looseheads but it adds to that depth which is great.”
Can you now pick other players who might be captured by the 25-cap rule?
“That would depend on the process, but it’s governed by the Professional Rugby Board. That’s the good thing that I don’t have to get involved with that. It’s just making sure we’re really thorough and making sure that goes through the board.”
How much did you look at Tom Bowen in terms of selection?
“Yes, absolutely (looked at him). We looked at lots of players and Tom Bowen being one of them, catching the eye. Not just his try-scoring, but as coaches we’ve been really impressed with his bravery and how he’s chasing kicks. He’s making indifferent kicks into good kicks with how he’s chasing.
“The way he’s attacked the game, I’ve seen him from afar with the U20s. He’s been really impressive. As coaches, we’ve connected up with him. We’ve given him feedback. But we feel it’s not the right time at this moment to bring him in. It’s been really exciting to see him and great to see.”
How much did the Scarlets’ form affect the likes of Sam Costelow and some of their other backs?
“Form will go into it. For Costy, the form of the others has been really, really impressive. You look at Dan and how he played in Japan. He took his opportunity and he’s carried on with the Ospreys. Jarrod has been playing well with Harlequins. Callum Sheedy, you look at how impressive he’s been.
“The way he’s bossed games and the way Cardiff are playing. We feed things back to players. For Costy, there’s a game cancelled and he had concussion. He played well out in Japan. For me, it’s more about what the others are doing.”
With Rees-Zammit back, how do you use him?
“I think we’re getting a special athlete and a special mindset to go and try something new. Most people are probably not brave enough to experience something different and that was a big jump so that tells you a lot about him as a person and his mentality. He says to me that he’s definitely faster and bigger since he’s come back, so that’s good for us to hear.
“We’ve got to build a game where we can get him in the game more often. Not only him, but we’ve got lots of other exciting players. We’ve got an exciting back-three. It’s how we can create the game to get them the ball more. We feel we’ve got a lot of quality in those areas.”
In terms of building the Wales team back up, Rees-Zammit is a rare superstar in terms of profile – can that help away from the rugby?
“That’s a deep question! It’s more about the rugby for me. But it’s using his experiences. People want to come watch him. When we’re going to have the session at the stadium, it’s about us connecting to the public and our people. We know how important our nation is for rugby, but also for youngsters, seeing them in action is massive.
“As a rugby fan, I know what it means to support Wales, but also to play. The more we can connect that with our support, the better. Zammo will play a big part in that. We’ve got some other superstars in our team. Jac Morgan is a British and Irish Lion. Zammo is a big part, but we’ve got some real great quality individuals as people and players right throughout the squad. It’s tapping into and connecting with the whole.”
On Jac Morgan, how beneficial will that Lions tour have been for him?
“It’s the first time I’m going to work with him, so I wouldn’t know the difference with him. But I know a lot of people in and around the Lions tour and no one says a bad word about Jac Morgan, on or off the field. Same for Tomos Williams as well. They made a real impression on the tour with everyone I spoke to. Tomos’ time was cut short unfortunately.
“Those experiences just build you. It’ll build confidence and then it’s rubbing off on others, being around those world-class players for the period they are. As a coach, when I went to South Africa, it was seeing how others do things differently and giving you that confidence. It’s a constant learning and growth.”
In terms of your first campaign, what do you want at the end of it?
“I think you want an absolute level of performance and to be able to look back on the four games and know what we are, with a clear identity of how we want to play. I’d love to sit here and say four wins. But that’s not reality. It’s making sure we’re very clear of how we want to play.
“That’s the exciting part for Monday. We’ve got an idea of how we want to play, but it’s immersing that with the players and connecting it. I’d love to be sitting here with people after the autumn, with them all knowing how Wales want to play.”
There’s two years until the next World Cup, with fly-half relatively open as a position. How soon do you want to nail down your main man there?
“You’d like to make a decision relatively quickly, but you have to be open-minded as coaches. You can be a fair way down the track, but you might have to adjust. It’s giving them the confidence so when they take the field, they know they’ll be supported. That’s the same with people not in the squad. Just because someone’s not in the squad, it doesn’t mean their World Cup hopes are over.
“We’ve got a part to play in nurturing them in how we get these boys on form. At the end of the day, international rugby is the absolute test. You need to add support, but it’s also your opportunity now. It’s hard to be definitive in how quickly you want to go with it. We’ve got to be open-minded. Someone will get that start against Argentina and that’s a chance to put that stamp on it. It won’t be chopping and changing after that. You’ve got to really clear with individuals.”
There’s an average age of 26 in this squad – how does it compare dealing with younger players compared to more experienced ones?
“It’s that support. It was probably stereotypical when I played that you might get screamed at. It’s a high-challenge environment, but it’s high support. It’s about support now and encouraging players to be the way they are. We’ve got to create that. But it’s not supporting to be nice, it’s supporting to be challenging. We’re here to win Test matches and put performances in.
“The way I like to do it is it’s that psychological safety to grow and challenge yourself. It’s not just the coach showing or telling. We need them comfortable being themselves. Just being Welsh and being tough to take a compliment, but also having an environment where you challenge each other. Not just player to player, but coach to player or whatever.
“That’s the way rugby goes and is an environment I believe in. That’s one I’m passionate about. Getting to know the players not just as rugby players, but as people. We’ve spent a lot of time having those conversations to know them because I do believe if we can create an environment where we can have the tougher conversations but they know it’s coming from a good place, that’s how we can enhance how quickly we can grow as a rugby team.”
Given the uncertainty in Welsh rugby, what steps have you taken to prepare the players?
“I think you’ve got to be really empathetic to that situation. We’ve all got families, partners and children. It’s always being empathetic. But we can’t avoid it either. It’s something I’m encouraging from the senior players. We’ve got to talk about it. You can’t avoid the elephant in the room. With uncertainty, that’s the last thing you want to do. If they feel it’s awkward, I’d rather know.
“It goes back to building those connections so they can pick up the phone and have that conversation. For me, it’s about being very open and having dialogue, no matter what it is. When you speak to players, they’re desperate to play for their country. Ultimately, it’s a slight distraction, but the more we move on through it and talk about it, the clearer we can be about producing performances.”
Are you concerned about potential strike action?
“It’s something you have to talk about. But just having that dialogue, you never want that to happen, but ultimately the way you avoid things like that is having constant dialogue and knowing boys have channels to voice their opinions.”
How close were the likes of Tommy Reffell and Harri Deaves in the back-row?
“It was really tough. But I think that’s exciting for me. The fact we mentioned players who aren’t in the squad tells us we have really, really good depth. Feeding back to those, I’ve spoken to both players. Harri has been outstanding for the Ospreys, the way he has gone about his game. He’s probably a smaller athlete in the way he plays the game. But the way he carries the ball and goes about the game is outstanding.
“Tommy has played in a couple of big games, he had an injury at the start of the season. I also spoke to Ross Moriarty and Alun Lawrence – there’s lot of boys who are playing well. That’s the beauty for us. Selection is an opinion. I’m sure there’ll be lot of opinions. Having the ability to speak to those boys who aren’t in is great for us as coaches, showing the quality we have in our back-row.”
How likely is Morgan Morse to feature?
“There’s those experienced pieces around there, but Morgan’s just been outstanding with the Ospreys. In South Africa, going up against those boys in the 79th minute, physically still going.
“That’s something outstanding. He’s got physical qualities with real upsides to the international game.
“The beauty is with him and Tom Bowen is there’s so much growth in them. That’s even more exciting. Morgan coming in and being around Toby and Aaron, it’s going to be awesome for him and for us as coaches. I just can’t wait to get coaching these boys and seeing what they’re like.”
* Follow all of our channels to ensure you stay up to date with the latest Welsh rugby news. Sign up to our free daily newsletter here and our WhatsApp channel here for all the breaking news.
You can also follow us on social media on our X account, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
For more exclusive stories and in-depth analysis, you can sign up for the Inside Welsh Rugby substack newsletter here.
