Debut for Adams as Wales name 10 Scarlets to face Scotland

Josh Adams will make his Test debut when Wales open their Six Nations campaign against Scotland on Saturday, while 10 Scarlets players have also made Warren Gatland’s starting XV.

Worcester Warriors wing Adams – the top try scorer in the Premiership this season – is the only uncapped player in the side for the match in Cardiff, which also sees Rhys Patchell start at fly-half following injuries to Dan Biggar and Rhys Priestland.

Wales’ stocks have been depleted by injury in the build-up to the tournament, with Sam Warburton, Taulupe Faletau, Liam Williams and George North also among the players unavailable to Gatland.

“The first-up game against Scotland this weekend is really important for us and this is a great chance for this group of players to get us off to a good start,” said Gatland.

“We have been watching Josh closely, he is top try-scorer in the English Premiership and has been going well and we are excited for him.

“Both Rhys and Gareth [Anscombe] have been training really well over the last couple of weeks. It was a tough call between them, Rhys has started most of his games for the Scarlets at 10, we are really happy with his form and the combination with Gareth [Davies] at nine.”

TEAM NEWS Wales name team for @SixNationsRugby opener against @Scotlandteam, with @JoshAdams951 set for debut. Gêm enfawr yn @principalitysta! https://t.co/PnCmyDtWAa #WALvSCO pic.twitter.com/LWVDnL3tdE

— Welsh Rugby Union (@WelshRugbyUnion) January 30, 2018

The Scarlets have been the form Welsh region, reaching the European Champions Cup quarter-finals with a victory over Toulon earlier this month, and Gatland was keen to tap into their success, naming an all-Scarlets front-row among the 10-strong contingent from Llanelli.

“For this opening game, we looked at a lot of combinations, especially the front-row,” he added. “It is exciting to see Samson [Lee] back playing well and the familiarity of the Scarlets front-row will be important.”

Wales XV: Leigh Halfpenny, Josh Adams, Scott Williams, Hadleigh Parkes, Steff Evans, Rhys Patchell, Gareth Davies; Rob Evans, Ken Owens, Samson Lee, Cory Hill, Alun Wyn Jones, Aaron Shingler, Josh Navidi, Ross Moriarty.

Replacements: Elliot Dee, Wyn Jones, Tomas Francis, Bradley Davies, Justin Tipuric, Aled Davies, Gareth Anscombe, Owen Watkin.