The questions Steve Tandy faces for his first Wales squad

New Wales coach Steve Tandy will name his first squad on Tuesday for the autumn internationals.

The selection for the four November matches against Argentina, Japan, New Zealand and South Arica will be unveiled at 13:00 BST before we hear from Tandy on his choices.

The former Ospreys chief has assembled a new-look coaching staff with Matt Sherratt, Danny Wilson, Dan Lydiate, Duncan Jones and Rhys Patchell named as assistants.

It will be a baptism of fire for Tandy in his first campaign as he takes over a national men's side ranked 12th in the world and one that only broke an 18-match international losing sequence by beating Japan in Kobe in July.

The opposition is tasty - three teams who looked good in the Rugby Championship - with the final match against world champions South Africa played outside World Rugby's international window.

Wales named six uncapped players for the Japan tour with Cardiff captain Liam Belcher, Ospreys duo Keelan Giles and Reuben Morgan-Williams and Dragons prop Chris Coleman winning caps.

Ospreys prop Garyn Phillips and Scarlets back Macs Page are still waiting for their first Test appearances.

The standout bolter in the Welsh domestic game this season has been Cardiff teenage wing Tom Bowen, the 19-year-old scoring five tries in four matches including a hat-trick against Munster.

Ospreys back-rower Morgan Morse was not selected for the senior squad or Under-20s in the summer but has been impressive this season, while flanker Harri Deaves has also stood out.

Cardiff number eight Alun Lawrence is another whose performances in the URC are eye-catching and he produced a sublime piece of skill in the 24-17 victory against Dragons last weekend.

The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) are trying to overcome concerning slow ticket sales by making wing Louis Rees-Zammit part of the attraction.

The Wales and British and Irish Lions wing shocked rugby when - on the eve of the 2024 Six Nations - he announced his decision to switch sports for American football to try and make it in the NFL.

Despite winning contracts with the Kansas City Chiefs and Jacksonville Jaguars, Rees-Zammit did not play a competitive NFL game.

Having slowly begun to realise his American dream was not going to become a reality during 18 months of trying, the 24-year-old is back in rugby having signed a season-long deal at Bristol Bears.

Rees-Zammit made a try-scoring return to the Gallagher Prem but injured his foot against Saracens earlier this month.

If he doesn't feature next weekend, there is only one more fixture - a Prem Cup clash against Bath - before the autumn Tests.

There are a number of capped players who were not involved in the summer tour who will be in contention for a return.

Ross Moriarty could be a prime contender for inclusion after returning from playing in France with Brive. The blind-side flanker or number eight won the last of his 54 caps in March 2022 and fell out of favour with Gatland.

His Ospreys team-mate, lock Rhys Davies, has started the season strongly after overcoming injury issues.

Adam Beard is excelling in France with new club Montpellier, while Will Rowlands has been featuring for Racing 92.

Cardiff fly-half Callum Sheedy has produced an impressive start to the season with a number of assists and team-mate Jacob Beetham has proved his versatility by slotting in at full-back, centre and wing so far this season.

Centre Nick Tompkins has been a prominent figure for Saracens, while fellow midfield man Max Llewellyn returned from injury for Gloucester last weekend.

Another centre option could be Joe Hawkins who opted to leave Ospreys for Exeter in 2023 - ruling him out of the last World Cup - but is now back in Wales with Scarlets.

Cardiff lock Teddy Williams is one of the major autumn absentees after dislocating his foot against Connacht, an injury which could see him miss the rest of the season.

Fellow Cardiff players James Botham and Mason Grady are also sidelined because of injuries.

Scarlets captain Josh Macleod and Exeter flanker Christ Tshiunza will definitely miss the November matches because of injuries, while hooker Ryan Elias and centre Eddie James are expected to miss most of next month's action.

In addition to the fitness issues for Morgan and Rees-Zammit, Tandy also has a series of other niggling injury concerns.

Dragons hooker Elliot Dee has not featured so far this season while Ospreys duo Giles and Keiran Williams, who have both enjoyed promising starts to the season, were late withdrawals before the 42-17 defeat against Glasgow in Bridgend.

Ospreys scrum-half Kieran Hardy was already ruled out of that game after coming off against Zebre with a rib injury.

Prop Rhys Carre is fit and has started the season strongly with Saracens - but is currently ineligible under the WRU selection policy because he has 20 caps, five short of the required number for those playing for clubs outside Wales.

So a rule change or loophole from Wales would be required to see his return.

Carre will become available for the other home nations in 2026 because it will have been three years since he previously played for Wales.

Ospreys duo Jac Morgan and Dewi Lake are again the main captaincy contenders with Exeter skipper Dafydd Jenkins also having led his country in recent years.

Flanker Morgan led Wales during the Six Nations campaign in which they finished bottom again, but was unavailable to skipper the side in Japan because he was away helping the British and Irish Lions win their series in Australia.

In the flankers absence, hooker Lake led Wales in their 1-1 summer series draw, having previously captained the side in Australia in 2024.

Morgan has retained the skipper's role at Ospreys for this season but has not yet featured for his region because of a minor calf injury - with vice-captain Lake taking over the reins.

*All matches at the Principality Stadium, Cardiff

Sunday, 9 November - Argentina (15:10 GMT)

Saturday, 15 November - Japan (17:40 GMT)

Saturday, 22 November - New Zealand (15:10 GMT)

Saturday, 29 November - South Africa (15:10 GMT).