Wales release Ospreys pair for derby with Dragons

Wales have released Ospreys scrum-half Reuben Morgan-Williams and loose-head prop Gareth Thomas for game time against Dragons before the Six Nations.

The pair will feature in the United Rugby Championship (URC) derby in Bridgend on Saturday (19:45 GMT) and then return to the national team training camp.

Steve Tandy's side start the Six Nations against England in London on Saturday, 7 February.

Wales have Tomos Williams and Kieran Hardy as the scrum-half options along with Morgan-Williams while Thomas is battling with Nicky Smith and Rhys Carre for action.

Morgan-Williams provides a boost in a problem position for Ospreys, who signed Leinster scrum-half Cormac Foley on a short-term deal this week because of injuries to Luke Davies and Harri Williams.

Thomas, who faced New Zealand and South Africa in the autumn, has not featured since the start of December because of a calf injury.

"Gareth has not been a million miles away from a return," said Ospreys head coach Mark Jones.

"Ourselves, Gareth and Steve felt that some minutes for him would be good, so he will get some this weekend.

"Reuben hasn't played much due to a shoulder injury so Wales have given us the opportunity to get game time into him.

"They know us very well so have slotted back in and we look forward to them being available."

The pair will boost Ospreys at the Brewery Field when eight other Wales internationals will watch on ahead of the Six Nations.

The home side are without centre Owen Watkin, fly-half Dan Edwards, Hardy, hooker Dewi Lake, lock Rhys Davies and flanker Harri Deaves while Dragons are denied the services of number eight Aaron Wainwright and lock Ben Carter.

The Rodney Parade team have won their last four games in Newport but, after an agonising 22-20 loss to Munster in Cork last weekend, are still chasing an elusive away success in the URC.

They have not won away in the competitions since beating Scarlets in April 2022, while their last league victory outside Wales was at Connacht in October 2021.

Dragons have won just twice on their travels to Ospreys in the league – a 31-20 success in Bridgend in March, 2021 and a 21-16 win in Swansea in October, 2010.