Gatland labels Thomas 'best back in Wales'

Head coach Warren Gatland says he is trying to work out where he will fit the "best back in Wales" into his side for November's autumn internationals.

That is what Gatland has labelled Ben Thomas, with the Cardiff centre having started at fly-half for Wales' two summer international defeats in Australia in July.

Gatland has recalled Gloucester fly-half Gareth Anscombe, alongside fellow specialist number 10 Sam Costelow, in his 35-man squad.

Wales begin against Fiji on Sunday, 10 November at Principality Stadium, before playing Australia (17 November) and South Africa (23 November) in Cardiff.

"I think Ben’s been the best back in Wales," said Gatland. "You look at the way he’s been playing and some of his statistics.

"We’ve got options, that’s why we’ve got two specialist 10s in terms of Anscombe and Costelow.

"We’ve tried Ben there and he can cover us, but it’s whether we look at him as an option or in his 12 position, where he's played exceptionally well."

Goal-kicking might affect the decision, with Anscombe not adopting the role for his new club Gloucester.

Anscombe, 33, has not played for Wales since suffering a serious groin injury before the World Cup victory against Georgia in October 2023.

"He’s [Anscombe] is not goal-kicking at the moment so we need to see where he’s at in terms of that and how much he's done," said Gatland.

"Gloucester have a couple of good goal-kickers. Gareth is a good goal-kicker but he had that problem with his groin for a long time which kept him out.

"It's just about seeing where Gareth is at this stage."

Thomas, 25, was impressive in the summer with Wales as a goal-kicker but is not the first-choice for Cardiff in this department.

"It is about making sure he gets a volume of kicks," said Gatland.

"I spoke to Matt Sherratt [Cardiff head coach] about how much he'd done.

"It's important he gets up to speed and those players will be working hard."

Thomas will have competition for the number 12 shirt with Gatland naming other specialist centre options Eddie James, Max Llewellyn, Owen Watkin and Nick Tompkins.

Cardiff's Mason Grady has been utilised out of position in that inside centre role for the last three Tests against South Africa and Australia.

Grady, 22, has been used more by Cardiff as a wing or an outside centre during the last couple of seasons.

Gatland says he might use Grady on the wing in November as he aims to cope with injuries to the likes of British and Irish Lions Test players Liam Williams and Josh Adams.

"Probably our concern has been the back three and the injuries there," said Gatland.

"Looking at that depth, someone like Josh Hathaway has come back from injury. We haven't got a lot of options at full-back.

"Blair Murray has given us a few more options. So someone like Mason, it's whether he look at him in midfield or as a wing option."