Sam Costelow returns to Wales line up for Ireland clash

Wales head coach Warren Gatland has made a solitary change to the starting line up for their meeting with  Ireland in the third round of the Six Nations.

Sam Costelow makes a comeback from a neck injury to take the fly-half role replacing his Scarlets team-mate Ioan Lloyd who now drops to the bench.

The other change comes amongst the replacements as Taine Basham drops out of the matchday squad with uncapped Mackenzie Martin replacing him. Dillon Lewis is set to make his first appearance in the competition as he is named on the bench following injuries to Leon Brown and Archie Griffin.

“We are excited to go out to Dublin and test ourselves against one of the leading sides in world rugby. It’s a challenge we are relishing,” said Gatland.

“We’ve made steps in the last couple of games and now it’s about building on that, learning from those experiences and taking that into this weekend.

“It’s about continuing to work hard, looking for accuracy in our performance across 80 minutes and also keeping our discipline".

Wales had two close defeats against England and Scotland in the opening two rounds, and they are positioned fifth in the table.

Wales XV: 15-Cameron Winnett, 14-Josh Adams, 13-George North, 12-Nick Tompkins, 11-Rio Dyer, 10-Sam Costelow, 9-Tomos Williams; 1-Gareth Thomas, 2-Elliot Dee, 3-Keiron Assiratti, 4-Dafydd Jenkins (captain), 5-Adam Beard, 6-Alex Mann, 7-Tommy Reffell, 8-Aaron Wainwright

Reserves: 16-Ryan Elias, 17-Corey Domachowski, 18-Dillon Lewis, 19-Will Rowlands, 20-Mackenzie Martin, 21-Kieran Hardy, 22-Ioan Lloyd, 23-Mason Grady.