Who will get the nod from Gatland?

WARREN Gatland announces his Six Nations squad tomorrow and the customary speculation about who might and might not get in is inevitably doing the rounds.

It seems like the World Cup has only just finished and now we are talking about how Wales will fare in the northern hemisphere’s annual jamboree of international rugby.

Given Wales’ run to the semi-finals in New Zealand there will be some players who won’t need to wait nervously by the phone for that important selection call.

Take Toby Faletau, arguably one of the form back rowers in Europe and world rugby at the moment and surely a fixture in the national team for years to come.

World Cup captain Sam Warburton – providing there aren’t any more tip tackles in store – is also a shoe-in for the side and could consider himself unlucky were he not to continue as skipper.

Along with the Dragons and Blues back row duo there are others whose names you would expect to see on Gatland’s squad list at The Vale tomorrow afternoon.

Adam Jones and Gethin Jenkins will of course be key to the Wales scrum holding up against England, Ireland, Scotland, France and Italy, while the expected return of Matthew Rees is more than welcome given the injury to Lloyd Burns.

A Six Nations where Huw Bennett is your main hooker isn’t one to look forward to.

Rees was desperately unfortunate to miss out on the World Cup but with Celtic League and Heineken Cup games under his belt this season the Scarlets star should be champing at the bit to get back into the red jersey of Wales.

Behind the scrum, and if Gatland has been keeping a close eye on the four regions lately, a few new faces could earn call-ups and some you might think even have a chance of starting when Wales begin their campaign in Ireland on February 5.

Ospreys fans will tell you that Rhys Webb has been the form scrum-half in Wales this season and has relegated summer signing Khan Fotuali’i to the bench for the most part. Webb’s teammate at the Liberty Stadium, centre Ashley Beck, has gone from strength to strength since scoring for his club against Saracens at Wembley in Europe.

Recently at home against Treviso he was in try-scoring form again and would be the perfect foil to Jamie Roberts providing the Blues man is fully fit.

However, Scarlets duo Jonathan Davies and Scott Williams have also forged a great partnership and will be another option for Gatland.

The three French Musketeers - Mike Phillips, James Hook and Lee Byrne - seem to be enjoying their time over the English Channel though Hook and Byrne will know they have a lot to prove should they force their way back into the reckoning.

As far as the fly-half position goes it’s got Rhys Priestland’s name written all over it and with Leigh Halfpenny performing so ably at full-back, Hook and Byrne have their work cut out to wrest the jerseys from them.

What about Gavin Henson you may ask? Has he done enough to be included in the squad?

Well, Henson’s the rugby equivalent of Marmite, dividing opinion throughout rugby supporters. He may well feature in the Six Nations but he hasn’t done anywhere near enough to warrant a starting place.

There are a handful of other players who could be in with a sniff of selection.

Aaron Shingler and Liam Williams have impressed this season in and behind the pack for the Scarlets, flanker Lewis Evans has caught the eye for the Dragons, Ian Evans has returned to his form of 2008 at the Ospreys while the Blues’ flier Alex Cuthbert will have his sights set on filling the gap left by Shane Williams.

And what price a call-up for (is he Scottish or is he Welsh?) Steven Shingler?

By David Williams