Wales call lock Jake Ball into Six Nations squad

Uncapped Scarlets player gets call after Ian Evans banned for 12 weeks

Scarlets lock Jake Ball has been called into the Wales Six Nations squad. Photograph: Francois Guillot/AFP/Getty Images
Scarlets lock Jake Ball has been called into the Wales Six Nations squad. Photograph: Francois Guillot/AFP/Getty Images

Uncapped Scarlets secondrow Jake Ball has been officially called into Wales' Six Nations squad.

Ball, 22, has been training with the squad ahead of next Saturday’s Six Nations opener against Italy in Cardiff.

The defending Six Nations champions have lost the services of Ospreys lock Ian Evans for the entire tournament.

Evans is serving a 12-week ban that does not expire until April after he was sent off for stamping on Mike McCarthy during the Ospreys' Heineken Cup defeat against Leinster in Dublin earlier this month.