Warren Gatland has distanced himself from Wales’s controversial new selection policy, which has effectively ruled Rhys Webb out of the 2019 World Cup.

From the start of next season, Welsh players who play for clubs abroad will be eligible for selection only if they have won 60 or more caps. Webb, who has won 28, agreed to join Toulon on a three-year contract the week before the threshold was introduced.

Gatland named the scrum half in his squad yesterday for the autumn internationals and then spoke of his sympathy for the 28-year-old and insisted that, as head coach, he was not to blame for the new limit.

“I was consulted on the new policy, but I wasn’t involved in the process,” Gatland said. “I got