Gatland named Scott Williams, Jamie Roberts and Jonathan Davies in his squad last week, with James Hook and George North also able to play centre.
Roberts missed the entire Dove Men Series campaign with an ankle injury and Davies hasn’t featured since the opening game against South Africa because of a pectoral problem. But Roberts returned to action for Racing Metro at the weekend and Davies is ahead of schedule in his comeback, with Scarlets boss Simon Easterby pleased with the 25-year-old’s progress.
And while the much-talked about British & Irish Lions partnership are keen to battle back to their best as quickly as possible, Williams is already playing some of the most consistent and effective rugby of his career to date.
“Jonathan is not too long away – he’s being conditioned,” said Scarlets head coach Simon Easterby. “He’s in good shape, but I don’t know if he will be ready for the start of the Six Nations.
“Scott has been excellent this year and has played a lot of rugby for us as well. He goes into the Welsh camp with plenty of positives and good form under his belt.
“He has been a stand-out player for us this year and played well for Wales in the autumn as well. It’s a good selection quandary for Wales in the Six Nations.”
Williams and Davies began the international season in tandem against the Springboks but the latter’s injury saw Wales name three different centre pairings in the three remaining Dove Men Series Tests.
Williams started alongside Blues debutant Cory Allen in the win over Argentina but injury then ruled Allen out of the games against Tonga and Australia.
Gatland opted for Allen’s Blues team-mate Owen Williams to join Ashley Beck in midfield against the Tongans, with the two Williams’ lining up alongside each other against the Wallabies.
Davies and Roberts’ last international appearance together came for the Lions in their third-Test win in Australia on July 4, while their most-recent Wales start together was the historic 30-3 win over England in March last year. Prior to that Championship-clincher in Cardiff, Davies and Roberts had started six Tests in a row for Wales – against Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, France, Italy and Scotland.
