Warren Gatland has identified full-back and wing-back as two positions where Wales need to discover new talent.

With Dan Biggar retiring from international rugby, Lee Halfpenny almost 35 and Liam Williams and Gareth Anscombe out of the Six Nations after joining Japanese clubs, Gatland is worried about a lack of options.

Sam Costelow will now be Wales’ number one at number 10, while Louis Rees-Zammit could move to full-back for the Six Nations squad. However, Gatland wants other options and will not be afraid to test people on the big stage.

Players like Tom Rodgers and Kai Evans were part of the first World Cup training squad, while youngsters like Jacob Beetham, Cameron Winnett and Will Reid are highly regarded on the regional scene. Costelow could also face competition at regional and international level from Ioan Lloyd, who has joined the Scarlets from Bristol.

“We probably don’t have many dozens at the moment,” Gatland said. “We are absolutely thrilled with Sam Costelow’s tremendous growth over the past few months. He will become an excellent international player, but he still has a lot to learn.

“The amount of work he put into the game in France was really impressive. He now understands what it takes to become an international player and how much work it requires.

“We need to find a few dozen more and hope to see more interesting players from the regions. We may have to throw them into the depths of international rugby to expose them sooner.

“The winger has a different position. We’ve had two excellent full-backs in recent years: Lee Halfpenny and Liam Williams. “We know Luis Rees-Zammit is an option for us, but we have to find other options to ensure we have real quality at the back.”

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Gatland has once again praised one of his World Cup players, and the manager is clearly impressed with young Dragons winger Rio Dyer.

And he added: “Rio Dier was a real quality for me. Over the past 12 months, we have seen its incredible growth. He was great when he came out in the quarterfinals.

“The amount of work he put in and the knowledge he gained from each game was brilliant. He was the one who was so green when he joined the team. He learned game by game. I have seen him progress not only as a rugby player but also as a professional athlete. “He is certainly someone we look forward to in the future, but we need to find more players like him.”