Wales coach springs selection surprise for Ireland
TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: Wales head coach Wayne Pivac has named his team to face Ireland at the Aviva Stadium, Dublin in the opening round of the 2022 Six Nations on Saturday.
Josh Adams gets his first international start at centre, partnering Nick Tompkins in the Wales midfield.
Captain Dan Biggar is at flyhalf with Tomos Williams at scrumhalf.
In the second row, Will Rowlands returns to the starting lineup alongside vice-captain Adam Beard who started all four of Wales’ Nations Series matches.
Ryan Elias also starts his fifth consecutive match for Wales at hooker and lines up alongside Wyn Jones and Tomas Francis in the front row.
Taine Basham makes his Six Nations debut, joining Ellis Jenkins and Aaron Wainwright in the back row.
The back three comprises Louis Rees-Zammit, Johnny McNicholl and Liam Williams.
Dewi Lake is in line to win his first cap as a replacement while Ross Moriarty would receive his 50th cap for Wales upon taking the field in Dublin.
Gareth Thomas would join Basham in making his Six Nations debut if appearing from the bench. Dillon Lewis provides the remaining front-row cover with Seb Davies completing the forward contingent.
Gareth Davies, Callum Sheedy and Owen Watkin, who returns to the Wales matchday squad for the first time since playing against Scotland in last year’s Championship, provide the back-line cover.
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Wales head coach Wayne Pivac said: “We’ve selected Josh Adams at 13. It’s something we’ve been thinking about for a while. He’s done it in training and in small doses at the end of a game. We think this is a golden opportunity to answer that question.
“Really pleased for Ross. He’s wrapped to be back in the match day 23 and I think it’s just really around game time at the moment. We think coming off the bench he’ll make an impact, so that’s why we’ve gone that way.
“Really happy for Dewi. He’s a big man, a very good rugby player. Strong over the ball and gives us something in defence as well as his attacking prowess.
“History in Dublin, it’s a hard place to go. There have been some great games in recent years against Ireland.
“They’re a very, very tough, very physical side. So we know we’re going to have to step up in that area of the game and make sure we do that for 80 mins. We’ve got to be very disciplined and as a result be in there fighting for the right result.”
Wales: 15 Liam Williams, 14 Johnny McNicholl, 13 Josh Adams, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Louis Rees-Zammit, 10 Dan Biggar (captain), 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Taine Basham, 6 Ellis Jenkins, 5 Adam Beard, 4 Will Rowlands, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Ryan Elias, 1 Wyn Jones
Replacements: 16 Dewi Lake, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Seb Davies, 20 Ross Moriarty, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Callum Sheedy, 23 Owen Watkin
Date: Saturday, February 5
Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Kick-off: 14.15 (14.15 GMT)
Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant Referees: Mathieu Raynal (France), Angus Gardner (Australia)
TMO: Stuart Terheege (England)