Alun Wyn Jones to captain Wales in the 6 Nations

Wales have named seven uncapped players for their 2017 Six Nations squad.

Five of the seven uncapped players, Olly Cracknell (Ospreys), Thomas Young (Wasps), Owen Williams (Leicester Tigers), Ashton Hewitt (Newport Gwent Dragons) and Steffan Evans (Scarlets), feature in a Wales senior squad for the first time.

Jones, who became Wales' 127th captain when he first took on the duties back in 2009 (against Italy in Rome, Wales' first opponents in this year's competition) and has led Wales on a total of five previous occasions, is joined by Jake Ball, Luke Charteris, Cory Hill and Thornton.

"I believe we have named an exciting and experienced squad for what is going to be a thrilling RBS 6 Nations Championship,” said Wales Head Coach Rob Howley.

"It's an honour to select Alun Wyn as captain.  His vast experience, as a player and a leader will help drive this squad forward and I believe he will flourish in the role.

"Sam (Warburton) has led Wales more times than any other captain and had great success in the role, however we want him to concentrate on his game and to be the best player he can be.  We had conversations during and since the autumn with Sam, no player is guaranteed their place in an international team and we want Sam to be playing his very best rugby and he agrees this is the best way forward."

Forwards:

Scott Andrews (Cardiff Blues) (13 Caps), Nicky Smith (Ospreys) (7 Caps), Rob Evans (Scarlets) (12 Caps), Rhodri Jones (Ospreys) (14 Caps), Tomas Francis (Exeter Chiefs) (17 Caps), Samson Lee (Scarlets) (29 Caps), Kristian Dacey (Cardiff Blues) (3 Caps), Ken Owens (Scarlets) (45 Caps), Scott Baldwin (Ospreys (28 Caps), Jake Ball (Scarlets) (21 Caps) Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys) (105 Caps) Rory Thornton (Ospreys) (Uncapped) Luke Charteris (Bath Rugby) (71 Caps) Cory Hill (Newport Gwent Dragons) (3 Caps) James King (Ospreys) (10 Caps) Justin Tipuric (Ospreys) (46 Caps) Olly Cracknell (Ospreys) (Uncapped) Ross Moriarty (Gloucester Rugby) (12 Caps) Taulupe Faletau (Bath Rugby) (62 Caps) * Sam Warburton (Cardiff Blues) (69 Caps) Thomas Young (Wasps) (Uncapped)

Backs:

Gareth Davies (Scarlets) (21 Caps) Rhys Webb (Ospreys) (23 Caps) Aled Davies (Scarlets) (Uncapped) Dan Biggar (Ospreys) (51 Caps) Sam Davies (Ospreys) (3 Caps)Owen Williams (Leicester Tigers) (Uncapped) Jamie Roberts (Harlequins) (86 Caps) * Jonathan Davies (Scarlets) (59 Caps) Scott Williams (Scarlets) (41 Caps) Ashton Hewitt (Newport Gwent Dragons) (Uncapped) Alex Cuthbert (Cardiff Blues) (44 Caps) Steffan Evans (Scarlets) (Uncapped) George North (Northampton Saints) (65 Caps) * Liam Williams (Scarlets) (38 Caps) Leigh Halfpenny (Toulon) (66 Caps)