Warren Gatland is not a man previously known for Cross-dressing, but if he adorns his Wales team with one of his five new caps it could just be the rugby fashion statement of the autumn.

This is the season for new trends and no-one could accuse the Wales coach of playing it safe on the November catwalk by selecting Sam Cross.

The Ospreys flanker had not even played a full senior game of professional 15-a-side rugby until his regional debut against Saracens last week.

But such was his impact – and the ease with which he adapted his specialist Sevens skills to the full game – that Gatland was happy to include him in his 36-man squad.

Cross is a 25-year-old from Brynmawr, who happens to have a bar named after him in his local rugby club in honour of his Olympic exploits in Brazil last year where he won a silver medal as part of the Great Britain team.

The shorter form of the game is where he has spent his entire last two years – jet-setting the globe as part of the Wales squad. Not only does that improve your air miles, but it’s pretty good for a player’s ball skills, too.

Cross has been an integral part of Wales’ World Series Sevens circuit, scoring 51 tries in 170 games, including 17 last term.

Now, with the likes of Sam Warburton and James Davies injured, Gatland admits he has a hunch that Cross just might mark the spot when it comes to something fresh and unpredictable.

“We’ve watched him on the sevens circuit and one thing about the sevens circuit is that the players who come out of there have excellent contact skills,” said Gatland. “He’s done a good job in captaining the Wales Sevens programme.

“He got exposed on the weekend and we just think that potentially he could be a point of difference. He’s quick, he’s athletic and he gives us a good lineout option. The game is changing and evolving and you need players in your squad to fulfil the roles you are trying to do in terms of the attacking options you are trying to create.

“We’ve taken a punt on that but it could be a punt that actually works for us. There’s some players who have missed out on the squad and we have spoken to those players to say that the doors not closed.

“We feel this is an opportunity for us to experiment a little bit and to try some new combinations to expose some players. We’ve got the Six Nations coming up and we will look to do a little bit of the same in the summer in Argentina.

“The plan for that is that we will leave some key experienced players behind so that they can get a good off season and prepare and get ready for the following 12 months and the World Cup. It’s also a good chance for Argentina to develop some youngsters as well so it’s part of the development.”

Whilst Cross represents the new breed, Jamie Roberts and Scott Williams have both been left out, with Scarlets’ New Zealander Hadleigh Parkes and the Ospreys’ Owen Watkins taking two of the centre places.

Parkes is not available until the final match of the series against South Africa, when he becomes eligible on residency, but Gatland admits the changes reflect a recognition that the sport is changing and Wales needed to change with it.

“I think a decision on those sort of players are based on what we have been trying to do over the last couple of years. We went to New Zealand in 2016 and we spoke about developing a game and trying to do that.

“It was a little bit harder last year with the summer and with the Lions and potentially from the way the Lions play from an attacking perspective. The game has changed and we are seeing a lot of sides with the 10/12 combination and ball players at 12.

“It’s based on speed of ball and decision making so we have picked players who we think can fulfil a role for us and can develop. We are working on that as part of our game moving forward.

“We haven’t always had the personnel who have been able to do that but we are working hard on that. We’ve got players like Owen (Watkin) and Hadleigh (Parkes) who could fulfil those roles and Owen Williams as well.

“We will see whether they can adapt to the way the game is developing and changing particularly over the last couple of years.

“Hadleigh will come in early but may go back to the Scarlets for a game against Bennetton and he is away for one week because his brother is getting married in New Zealand. He will then work with us in the weeks before the South Africa game when he becomes available.”