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Former Wales international Tom Shanklin has explained why he thinks Tommy Reffell has been left out of the Wales squad for the upcoming autumn internationals. Steve Tandy named his 39-man squad on Tuesday and Reffell was the headline absentee with Tom Bowen, Ross Moriarty and Johnny Williams also left out. Reffell was different to the others, though. The Leicester Tigers flanker has been a constant in the Wales squad since making his debut over three years ago and has competed well with captain Jac Morgan for the starting berth at openside. In the back row for the autumn, Tandy has decided to go for Aaron Wainwright, Taulupe Faletau, Alex Mann, Morgan Morse, Taine Plumtree and skipper Morgan , with Freddie Thomas also able to operate there. Addressing the absence of Reffell and Ospreys star Harri Deaves, Tandy said in a press conference: "Really tough. But I think that’s exciting for me. "Feeding back to those, I’ve spoken to both players. Harri has been outstanding for the Ospreys, the way he has gone about his game. He’s probably a smaller athlete in the way he plays the game. "But the way he carries the ball and goes about the game is outstanding. Tommy has played in a couple of big games, he had an injury at the start of the season. In an interview with WalesOnline, Shanklin identified the reason why he thinks Tandy and the selection committee decided to leave out Reffell. "I think they've probably gone with power, they've gone with size," began Shanklin when asked whether Reffell was just unlucky to miss out this time. "We've got to try and match teams as best we can at that. We've got Jac Morgan who's an out-and-out seven. Those two can play together but they're looking for probably a bit more power. He took a knock as well, I'm not sure how fit he is. So all these factors play into it." As previously mentioned, the other headline exclusion was Bowen. The teenager has been in electric form this season and even bagged a hat-trick in the opening games. Welsh fans had suggested he would make the squad but he was left out by Tandy. In a press conference, Tandy confirmed he looked at potentially calling up Bowen after being impressed by his bravery and kick-chase. Tandy said: "As coaches, we’ve connected up with him. We’ve given him feedback. But we feel it’s not the right time at this moment to bring him in. It’s been really exciting to see him and great to see." Shanklin was asked by WalesOnline about Bowen's exclusion and agreed with the call. He added: "I think the other big news is obviously Tom Bowen as well, not making the squad and I think it's right. Loads of people would disagree but he hasn't played that many games and it's important we look after our players. We've seen it with so many youngsters before where they've had a couple of good games for their region and they've been thrown into international rugby. "Wales aren't a team that is winning at the moment, it's a tough environment to go in and you're just going to expose the guy to South Africa, to New Zealand, to Argentina where it's going to be tough and you don't want players like Tom Bowen to lose all the confidence they've got. "So I think it's important that we do look after players and we bring them in slowly and gently. Maybe we might see him training with the squad which would be a great experience for him. "I think that would be the best thing for him would be to train with a Welsh team to find out what it's like, to see the levels of intensity which would be completely different. But look after him, let him have more games. He's played eight games I think in all for Cardiff . "He's had a great start to the season but carry on that form and then look again in February for the Six Nations because it's a tough position to crack as well. Josh Adams - Lions, plenty of experience. Louis Rees-Zammit - another Lion, plenty of experience. Blair Murray - 'Welsh Player of the Year'. So I agree with the decision, I think it's a smart decision." Follow all of our channels to ensure you stay up to date with the latest Welsh rugby news. Sign up to our free daily newsletter here and our WhatsApp channel here for all the breaking news. You can also follow us on social media on our X account , Facebook , Instagram and TikTok. For more exclusive stories and in-depth analysis, you can sign up for the Inside Welsh Rugby substack newsletter here.
