Leigh Halfpenny returns for Wales in Six Nations opener against Ireland
Leigh Halfpenny is set to make his first Wales start for 19 months
©PA
Wales head coach Warren Gatland has handed Leigh Halfpenny his first start since summer of 2021 as they unveiled the matchday squad for the Six Nations opener against Ireland to be played in Cardiff on Saturday.
Halfpenny has overcome a knee injury to start at fullback with Liam Williams ruled out with Dan Biggar starting at fly-half and Tomos Williams at scrum-half.
Alun Wyn Jones starts in the second row that also has Adam Beard while Jac Morgan, Justin Tipuric and Taulupe Faletau start at back row.
Joe Hawkins with one cap and Rio Dyer with three caps are part of the backline as they are set for Six Nations debut. Ken Owens will be leading the side on what will be his 87th Test cap.
"We've picked Joe at 12. He's a lovely footballer with some great skills. I thought for his first cap he was outstanding so we've given him another opportunity. There's some real competition in the midfield at the moment, so I'm really excited about that," said Gatland.
"There's a mixture in the team of some experience, some younger players. We were conscious as well picking the bench. We think we've got a bench that can come on and have an impact.
"Ireland are the No 1 team in the world, so they're going to be coming here with a lot of confidence. You don't become the No 1 team in the world without having some pretty consistent performances.
"We know how good they are and we're expecting a really tough contest. It's important for us that we start well, but we need to be in the game at the last 20 minutes.
"We've only had a couple of weeks together but I'm confident that the guys will go out and give a good account of themselves. They're pretty excited about playing this first game at home."
Wales XV: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Josh Adams, 13 George North, 12 Joe Hawkins, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Tomos Williams; 1 Gareth Thomas, 2 Ken Owens (c), 3 Tomas Francis, 4 Adam Beard, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 6 Jac Morgan, 7 Justin Tipuric, 8 Taulupe Faletau
Reserves: 16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Rhys Carre, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Dafydd Jenkins, 20 Tommy Reffell, 21 Rhys Webb, 22 Owen Williams, 23 Alex Cuthbert
