Uncapped Wales prop training with Steve Tandy's side as star's hopes dashed

Rhys Henry, a 27-year-old uncapped prop with the Ospreys, has trained with Wales this week as coach Steve Tandy weighs options ahead of a planned summer schedule. The move comes because Keiron Assiratti, 28, is reportedly set to miss this summer’s Nations Championship after sustaining an injury and being carried off on crutches following Cardiff’s United Rugby Championship quarter-final defeat to the Stormers. Wales are preparing for Tests against Fiji, Argentina and South Africa next month, with Tandy expected to trim his extended squad from 48 players after the Twickenham clash with the Barbarians. Henry’s inclusion appears unrelated to Assiratti’s injury, with sources indicating Tandy simply wants a closer look at the uncapped tighthead, who has also been invited to at least one alignment camp this year. Archie's absence through injury and Tomas Francis’s summer leave have left Wales light in this area, heightening Henry’s potential if form warrants exposure during the Nations Championship window. Henry has featured 13 times for Mark Jones’s Wales U20s side this year, while Dillon Lewis, Sam Wainwright and Ben Warren remain as the other tested tightheads in the broader pool.