Ben Thomas: Head coach Warren Gatland labels Cardiff centre ‘best back in Wales’

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 sustaining a serious groin injury before the World Cup victory against Georgia in October 2023.

“He [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.”