Dewi Lake has been called up to Wales' Six Nations squad by interim head coach Matt Sherratt.
The Ospreys hooker, who captained Wales in the summer and autumn campaigns last year, initially missed out on selection after undergoing bicep surgery in December.
The news comes as Wales confirmed the six Welsh-based players being released to the regions for this weekend's United Rugby Championship matches.
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The Ospreys will have hooker Sam Parry, prop Ben Warren and fly-half Dan Edwards back for their clash against Glasgow. The Scarlets have back-row Taine Plumtree and centre Joe Roberts, who featured against Ireland off the bench on the weekend, for their fixture against Ulster.
Cardiff also welcome back scrum-half Ellis Bevan, who has yet to feature for Wales in the tournament, for their trip to Ireland to face Leinster.
As well as those six, the 13 players in the Wales squad currently playing outside of the country all return to their clubs this week as per player release rules.
As such, Sherratt will be without Gloucester quintet Freddie Thomas, Tomos Williams, Gareth Anscombe, Max Llewellyn and Josh Hathaway, Exeter duo Dafydd Jenkins and Christ Tshiunza, Leicester pair Nicky Smith and Tommy Reffell, Harlequins' Jarrod Evans, Saracens' Nick Tompkins, Sale's WillGriff John and Racing 92's Will Rowlands.
All the released players will report back next Monday to prepare for the clash with Scotland in Edinburgh.
However, the Cardiff coach - who is in charge of Wales until the end of the Six Nations - has received a boost by welcoming back 18-cap Lake to his squad.
The initial expectation was that the hooker would be out for 12 weeks, but Ospreys head coach Mark Jones had always hinted that the 25-year-old could come back sooner.
Lake has been working his way back to fitness with Wales in recent weeks, having been in camp when news broke of Warren Gatland’s departure as Wales head coach. He has since been pictured taking part in certain training sessions.
The 25-year-old has now been called up to Wales' full squad, as preparations begin for the remaining fixtures against Scotland and England.
He joins Cardiff's Evan Lloyd, Dragons' Elliot Dee and Ospreys team-mate Parry as the hookers in the squad.
Remarkably, Lake hasn't played in the Six Nations since 2022 - having missed the following two tournaments through injury.
His last appearance came in December against Montpellier in the Challenge Cup. Days after that, he picked up the injury in training - with Jones confirming later that he would need to go under the knife.
