Welsh scrum-half Tomos Williams played 378 minutes at the 2026 Six Nations, the most among the prominent number nines in that tournament. Behind him were Antoine Dupont with 357 minutes, Jamison Gibson-Park with 323 minutes and Ben White with 302 minutes.
Williams started every test match available to him since Steve Tandy took charge of Wales in the summer of 2025. He missed only the defeat against South Africa in November and the victory over the Barbarians in June. In every match under Tandy, he played for more than an hour, completing the full 80 minutes against Japan and Fiji. Against Italy, he came off two minutes before the end, while against Ireland he spent 10 minutes off the field due to a yellow card.
Tandy will name the squad for the Nations Championship on Tuesday, and Williams is currently the first choice at scrum-half. Under Tandy, the matchday squad has been shared with only two other scrum-halves: Kieran Hardy and Reuben Morgan-Williams. Hardy started against South Africa and the Barbarians and came on briefly from the bench five times, while Morgan-Williams came on from the bench three times. Hardy now faces a long layoff due to a knee injury sustained against the Dragons earlier this month.
Williams, who is 31, is a former Cardiff scrum-half who moved from Gloucester to Saracens in the summer. Wales won three tests in the 2025-26 season. With Hardy's injury, competition for the number nine jersey has narrowed further, with Che Hope, Gareth Davies and Dane Blacker mentioned as candidates.
Hope is the Dragons' scrum-half and is 23 years old. This season, he shares starting positions with Rhodri Williams, whose last of his nine appearances for Wales came at the 2025 Six Nations. Hope has only 30 senior caps, and the Dragons' defence coach is Dale MacLeod.
Gareth Davies retired from test rugby in 2024. He earned 77 caps for Wales, a Grand Slam and a Six Nations title, went on two British and Irish Lions tours, and played in the 2015, 2019 and 2023 World Cups. He plays for the Scarlets and started against Newcastle last Saturday. When the World Cup is held, he will be 37 years old. The Scarlets' rugby director is Nigel Davies, the coach is Dwayne Peel, and the former Scarlets, Wales and Lions centre is Jonathan Davies.
Blacker started all three United Rugby Championship matches this season. Ten Welsh scrum-halves played for regions this season. Warren Gatland initially took two scrum-halves, Williams and Gareth Davies, in early 2023, and added Hardy due to injured number eight Taulupe Faletau before the quarter-final defeat by Argentina.
Wales' opening World Cup 2027 match against Zimbabwe will be played in Adelaide on 2 October. By that opening, Wales will have played 12 or 13 matches, and Steve Tandy is the head coach of Wales.
