Rio Dyer to make Wales debut against New Zealand

Wales head coach Wayne Pivac has handed a debut for Dragons wing Rio Dyer in the Autumn Nations opener against New Zealand to be played in Cardiff on Saturday.

Dyer will start at left wing and Louis Rees-Zammit is named at right along with Leigh Halfpenny at fullback. George North and Nick Tompkins will partner in midfield with Gareth Anscombe getting the nod at fly-half in the absence of Dan Biggar.

Tomos Williams starts at scrum-half with Adam Beard and Will Rowlands being the preferred second row options.

Skipper Justin Tipuric will be part of the back row that also has Taulupe Faletau and Tommy Reffell while Gareth Thomas and Tomas Francis start at loosehead and tighthead respectively.

Former skipper Alun Wyn Jones is amongst the replacements along with Ryan Elias, Nicky Smith, Dillon Lewis, Christ Tshiunza, Kieran Hardy and Owen Watkin.

“Rio has fitted in really well and really quickly. He’s thriving in this environment.

"He’s a young man that’s bringing some form with him into camp. He scored some great tries and he’s full of confidence. That means a lot to a young guy playing his first Test match in front of a big crowd. There’s no better way to start your career so we wish him well.

“It doesn’t get much bigger than Wales-New Zealand. I remember coming to games prior to getting this role and a full house, the bands and pre-match is just fantastic.

“We can’t wait for it, the players are looking forward to it and we just want the fans to get in there and be loud and really get behind the boys and be that 16th player that we know they are.”

Wales: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Louis Rees-Zammit, 13 George North, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Justin Tipuric (c), 5 Adam Beard, 4 Will Rowlands, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Gareth Thomas

Reserves: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Alun Wyn Jones, 20 Christ Tshiunza, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Rhys Priestland, 23 Owen Watkin