TIGHTHEAD prop Tomas Francis looks set to feature at the start of the World Cup after being left out of Wales' squad to face Ireland on Saturday, writes Chris Kirwan.

The uncapped Exeter front row forward will watch on from the Millennium Stadium touchline when Aaron Jarvis starts against the Six Nations champions with Scott Andrews as his back-up.

Warren Gatland would have been tempted to cap Francis to tie him to Wales, as qualifies through his Abercrave grandmother but hails from Yorkshire.

However, the Wales boss has instead opted to make it effectively a trial between Jarvis and Scott Andrews for the third tighthead spot in his 31-man World Cup squad.

He is set to select Samson Lee despite fearing the Scarlets man will miss the encounters against Uruguay and England because of the Achilles injury he suffered against the Irish in the Six Nations.

That would lead to Francis playing against the South American minnows at the Millennium Stadium, as well as making his Test bow in the warm-ups against the Irish in Dublin and Italy in Cardiff.

"All I can say is that we have been incredibly impressed with him," said Gatland when asked by the Exeter man was not in the 23 for Saturday.