Lee’s inclusion could signal a changing of the guard in the engine room with Lee being joined in Warren Gatland’s autumn squad with fellow front row rookies Rhodri Jones (22) and Nicky Smith (20).
Adam Jones failed to make the cut for the autumn fixtures against Australia, Fiji, New Zealand and Australia while Gethin Jenkins, the all-time leading Welsh cap holder with 107 caps, starts tomorrow’s clash against the Wallabies from the bench.
Lee made his international debut as a late second half replacement for Wales against Argentina in 2013 and has gone on to be a replacement on three further occasions before making the starting line-up for Wales in the gut-wrenching 31-30 defeat to South Africa in the summer.
The quietly-spoken Lee now has a golden opportunity to stake a permanent claim for the Number 3 shirt in Gatland’s starting XV.
“It’s a big vote of confidence in me to be selected ahead of Adam in the squad because he has been playing really well this year, so hopefully I will take my chance to become first-choice,” he said.
“He has been the player that I’ve looked up to, and he gave me plenty of tips in previous Wales squads.
“Adam was the best in the world at one stage, and that was because of his unbelievable scrummaging. That is the tighthead’s first job, and then they have to work hard around the field.
“I am hoping to improve around the park, but that’s just a bonus. I need the scrum to keep going well. Australia aren’t known for their scrums, but I am sure they will come at us there and it will be physical.
“I am ready for that, and we have a really good scrummaging front-row because both (hooker) Richard Hibbard and Paul James are world-class forwards.
“I’ve played some big games over the past season or so, and I am looking forward to the challenge.
“It was tough to go up against one of the best in the ‘Beast’ (Tendai Mtawarira) in South Africa, and I don’t think that it will be any different against Australia. I expect a tough test against (Wallabies loosehead) James Slipper.
“It’s going to be really tough at the set-piece, and we have to grit our teeth and get stuck into them. The forwards need to put in a big performance.”
The players have faced an exhausting training schedule going into this autumn’s series of games and Lee has no hesitation in saying it’s the toughest he has ever experienced.
“It has been hard work with really early starts and long days, but I am sure it will pay off and all the boys look ready for the game.
“You need that, because internationals are another step up from regional rugby with it being a faster and more physical game.”
