Rugby World Cup 2019: Warren Gatland set to name Ellis Jenkins, Taulupe Faletau and Aaron Shingler in preliminary squad

Gatland will name an enlarged sqyad of up to 50 players on Tuesday for their notoriously brutal pre-Rugby World Cup training camps

Warren Gatland will hand Cardiff Blues flanker Ellis Jenkins a Rugby World Cup lifeline by naming him in his preliminary Wales squad on Tuesday, despite the back-row suffering a serious knee ligament injury last November.

Jenkins has not played any rugby since having surgery on his right knee to repair damage to his anterior cruciate ligament, medial collateral ligament and knee tendon last November, having suffered the serious injury during a man-of-the-match performance in the autumn international victory over South Africa.

The 26-year-old has won 11 international caps to date since making his debut in June 2016, but Gatland will give him every chance of adding to that this year by naming him in an enlarged squad that will prepare for the Rugby World Cup throughout the summer.

Gatland is expected to name between 45 and 50 players that will all be given four weeks’ holiday from the end of the season, before reporting for World Cup duty by the end of June depending on when the four Welsh regions wrap up their campaign – particularly in light of the Pro14 Champions Cup play-off between Ospreys and Scarlets next month.

Both Aaron Shingler and Taulupe Faletau are also expected to be included, despite the former not playing a game this season due to a similar injury to Jenkins and the latter a Welsh absentee since the 2018 Six Nations, having suffered two broken arms this season.

With an enlarged squad named by Gatland ahead of what will be his final tournament as Wales head coach, the New Zealander will put the players through the notoriously tough pre-World Cup training camp that has come to define the Gatland era, with a new gym installed at the team’s National Centre of Excellence base alongside the existing altitude and cryotherapy chambers and indoor pitch.

The squad will be cut midway during the summer before the final 31-man list is determined, with Gatland again taking them to Fiesch in the Swiss Alps for one of two overseas training camps – the other taking place at the Gloria Sports Arena in Turkey – before two World Cup warm-up matches against England as well as a double-header with Ireland.

“If you look at our plan, I think it’s perfect,” said Wales team manager Alan Phillips on Monday, with the backroom staff meeting for the final time to finalise the preliminary squad.

Ellis Jenkins is expected to be named in the Wales squad despite not playing since November (Getty)

“We have put everything in place in order to give the training squad as much preparation as possible. We were really pleased with our approach in 2011 and 2015 and we believe 2019 will be as good.

“Fiesch is fantastic for altitude training and we really benefited from it in 2015. Turkey gives us the heat training we require and with it being a bit closer than Doha but it will be another huge testing week for the squad.”