Twenty-one-year-old Ospreys outside half Dan Edwards was man of the match for his region in their EPCR Challenge Cup win over Newcastle Falcons last weekend – an accolade he also enjoyed in the New Year’s Day derby draw with Cardiff at the Arms Park.
“We’ve been impressed with him. We were hoping to have him in, in the autumn, but unfortunately he had a groin strain and picked up a head knock, so we didn’t get a chance to look at him,” said Gatland.
“We’ve been impressed with the way he’s played. He’s matured nicely into looking like a quality No 10.
“It’s the one position in which we’ve spoken about trying to develop some strength in depth. Someone like Dan gets an opportunity to stake a bit of a claim.“We’ve been impressed with how he’s controlled games. His kicking game has developed in recent times, and he’s got a good running game too.”
In a squad that sees the return of Taulupe Faletau (104 caps), Liam Williams (92), Josh Adams (59) and Elliot Dee (51), the other uncapped player is new Scarlets wing Ellis Mee, who this time last year was playing in the English Championship with Nottingham.
“Ellis is pretty exciting and he’s got a good presence about him. He’s quick and he’s good aerially,” added Gatland.
“Even though he’s playing on the wing, he’s played a lot at full-back. I think he played 21 out of 22 games there last season, so he’s an option at full-back going forward.
“The back-three has been a concern for us with strength in depth. We’ve got more options there now and it’s good to see someone like Josh Adams back in contention.
“Getting experienced players like Josh back is a positive for us. Someone like Dafydd Jenkins coming back, with his energy and enthusiasm in the squad, is goo too.
“It’s probably the first time in a while we’ve had some real dilemmas around some of the selections. We had some good healthy debate around the team.”
