Wales change six for clash against South Africa
Dan Biggar starts at fly-half for Wales
©PA
Wales head coach Wayne Pivac has made six changes to the starting line-up for the upcoming clash against South Africa to be played at Principality Stadium on Saturday.
Even though the likes of Alun Wyn Jones, Ross Moriarty and Taulupe Faletau are unavailable due to injuries, Wales will be boosted by the return of Premiership bound players, who missed the previous game against New Zealand.
Louis Rees-Zammit returns to right wing joining Josh Adams at left while Saracens' Nick Tompkins returns at midfield joining skipper Jonathan Davies. Dan Biggar takes the kicking responsibility with Tomos Williams at scrum-half.
The front row sees a change with Rhys Carré replacing Wyn Jones while Will Rowlands comes at second row with the final change coming as Ellis Jenkins returns after three years starting at blindside replacing Moriarty.
“South Africa coming to town, as world champions, offers a different challenge to New Zealand. They’ve got a massive forward pack, they’re big across the park really, and they bring a huge aerial threat so it’s going to be a different challenge,” said Pivac.
“It’s a big Test match and we need to get what we think is the best side out there. We’re looking forward to having this side out there on the weekend and it’ll be really interesting to see how we go.
“There’s a lot of experience gone from the pack now and with what’s coming in terms of the South African pack, with their experience, it’s going to be a massive challenge for our boys and it’ll be interesting to see who steps up.
“Field position in this game is going to be massive, with the scrum that’s coming and line out drive, so we have to make sure we’re smart in how we play the game.”
Wales XV: 15 Johnny McNicholl, 14 Louis Rees-Zammit, 13 Jonathan Davies (c), 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Dan Biggar, 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 Rhys Carré
Reserves: 16 Bradley Roberts, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 WillGriff John, 19 Ben Carter, 20 Seb Davies, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Gareth Anscombe, 23 Liam Williams
