Liam Williams and Dan Biggar named in Wales line-up for quarter-final against Argentina
Liam Williams has retained his place at fullback
©Photo by Pauline Ballet - World Rugby/World Rugby via Getty Images
Wales have been boosted by the return of experienced duo Dan Biggar and Liam Williams in their line up for the Rugby World Cup quarter-final against Argentina to be played in Marseille on Saturday.
Biggar recovered from a pectoral injury that he sustained during the game against Australia and takes the place of Sam Costelow at fly-half but Gareth Anscombe, who was a late withdrawal ahead of the game against Georgia continues to be on the sidelines. Gareth Davies returns to scrum-half replacing Tomos Williams.
Meanwhile, Liam Williams has recovered from a knee injury as he retains his position at fullback while Josh Adams is back at left wing joining Louis Rees-Zammit at right. Nick Tompkins and George North are at midfield while Ryan Elias returns to front row joining Gareth Thomas and Tomas Francis.
The second row sees the return of Adam Beard at the expense of Dafydd Jenkins while Aaron Wainwright returns to take the place of Taulupe Faletau, who is ruled out of the remainder of the competition due to an injury. The final change sees skipper Jac Morgan reverting from open-side to blind-side to accommodate Wainwright.
“We had a goal of making the quarter-finals which we have achieved. Now it’s about building on that momentum.
“It’s exciting to enter into the knock-out stages of the tournament and we are ready for the challenge of a quarter-final. All our preparation has been geared to getting to this spot and we’re very much relishing the opportunity.
“We’re expecting another tough encounter this weekend against a physical Argentina side. We haven’t had the perfect performance yet, but we have shown that we are a hard team to beat.
“There is a lot more growth in this squad – collectively and individually – and we can’t wait to get out there in Marseille on Saturday.”
Wales XV: 15 Liam Williams, 14 Louis Rees-Zammit, 13 George North, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Jac Morgan (c), 5 Adam Beard, 4 Will Rowlands, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Ryan Elias, 1 Gareth Thomas
Reserves: 16 Dewi Lake, 17 Corey Domachowski, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Dafydd Jenkins, 20 Christ Tshiunza, 21 Tomos Williams, 22 Sam Costelow, 23 Rio Dyer
