Five Wales Stars Ruled Out of Wales vs England

Five players will not be heading to Warren Gatland's second overseas World Cup training camp in Turkey this month, and thus won't be available for the first warm-up against England in Cardiff on August 5.

Gatland announced on Wednesday that a 43-man squad will travel to Turkey in preparation for the Vodafone Summer Series.

Taulupe Faletau is the headline absentee, while the likes of Owen Williams and Alex Cuthbert have also been omitted along with Joe Roberts and Johnny Williams. They remain part of the wider squad but will not be in contention for the first warm-up.

"We're really pleased with how our two-week training camp has gone in Switzerland. The players worked extremely hard and made really good progress," said Gatland.

"As well as having the natural benefits from living at high altitude, players experienced temperatures in the mid-to-late thirties (degrees centigrade) during our on-pitch sessions which will be good preparation for our next camp in Turkey.

"The 43 players travelling to Turkey are all available for selection for the first match against England on August 5. Those not travelling remain in our wider training squad and will join back up with us on our return to Wales.

"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 face England at the Principality Stadium before, a week later, travelling for a reverse fixture at Twickenham, with South Africa then visiting Cardiff on August 19. The 33-man squad will then be announced for the World Cup in France, which gets under way in September.

Wales - 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.