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Wales make 11 changes from autumn loss to Springboks for France trip

Wales head coach Warren Gatland (right) and captain Jac Morgan at last week's Guinness Six Nations launch in Rome (Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

Warren Gatland has made 11 changes to the Wales starting XV that lost 12-45 to South Africa in November for their opening match of the Guinness Six Nations against France on Friday in Paris.

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The four players that have remained in the XV are captain Jac Morgan, lock Will Rowlands, flanker James Botham, and fly-half Ben Thomas, who started at inside centre against the world champions.

Wales will welcome back a handful of favourites for the clash at the Stade de France as they look to arrest a 12-Test losing streak, including the previously injured trio of Josh Adams, Tomos Williams and Dafydd Jenkins. Liam Williams also finds himself back in a Welsh matchday squad after returning from his stint in Japan at the end of last year.

Video Spacer

Antoine Dupont speaks at the official Men’s Six Nations launch

Video Spacer

Antoine Dupont speaks at the official Men’s Six Nations launch

France star Antoine Dupont spoke to the media at the official Guinness Men’s Six Nations launch event in Rome and at the Colosseum.

Ospreys fly-half Dan Edwards is the only uncapped player in the squad, with Gatland opting for an inexperienced set of backs on the bench with the five-cap Rhodri Williams and the three-cap Blair Murray.

“We’re excited for the challenge on Friday,” Gatland said. “The Six Nations is the best rugby competition in the world. Every game is a big occasion. We want to go out there, embrace that and start our championship well.”

Fixture
Six Nations
France
43 - 0
Full-time
Wales
All Stats and Data

Wales XV
15. Liam Williams (Saracens – 92 caps)
14. Tom Rogers (Scarlets – 5 caps)
13. Nick Tompkins (Saracens – 38 caps)
12. Owen Watkin (Ospreys – 42 caps)
11. Josh Adams (Cardiff Rugby – 59 caps)
10. Ben Thomas (Cardiff Rugby – 7 caps)
9. Tomos Williams (Gloucester Rugby – 59 caps)
1. Gareth Thomas (Ospreys – 35 caps)
2. Evan Lloyd (Cardiff Rugby – 5 caps)
3. Henry Thomas (Scarlets – 4 caps)
4. Will Rowlands (Racing 92 – 36 caps)
5. Dafydd Jenkins (Exeter Chiefs – 19 caps)
6. James Botham (Cardiff Rugby – 16 caps)
7. Jac Morgan (Ospreys – 18 caps) – captain
8. Aaron Wainwright (Dragons – 52 caps)

Replacements
16. Elliot Dee (Dragons – 51 caps)
17. Nicky Smith (Leicester Tigers – 49 caps)
18. Keiron Assiratti (Cardiff Rugby – 10 caps)
19. Freddie Thomas (Gloucester Rugby – 1 cap)
20. Tommy Reffell (Leicester Tigers – 23 caps)
21. Rhodri Williams (Dragons – 5 caps)
22. Dan Edwards (Ospreys – uncapped)
23. Blair Murray (Scarlets – 3 caps)

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Comments

1 Comment
P
PR 18 days ago

The one thing this Welsh team does not lack is guts. They fought until the very last minute against the Boks even though they were outgunned throughout. Tough assignment in Paris but they won't give up. Good luck from a Bok supporter.

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JW 9 hours ago
France player ratings vs England | 2025 Six Nations

Sorry my delivery on that joke was a bit bland. But to reply to the couple of good points you make, to me it just seemed like they had no plan with why Gatland was staying on. I mean the plan seemed to be “just get us a win against Italy and we can continue on as we are”, which is just terrible if that’s what Gatland was trying to achieve for Wales imo.


Did it just happen to be Italy that he saw his team weren’t able to achieve his vision of success? I mean Italy are a very good side so its by no means a lost cause to not look like world beaters. Sure his focus should have been on more transient factors like growth and style for a full rebuild, not trying to avoid the wooden spoon.


Which brings me to you main point, that would be exactly what the benefit of dropping down a tier would be. A chance to really implement something, get good at it, then take it up a level again once you’re ready. Even for Italy it must have been an incredibly brutal environment to have been trying to develop as a side.


Not saying of course that the other EU teams would be any better, but it might be better for everyone if say ‘years of tough losses’ are shared between countries, rather than see Wales go through this journey two, three, possible four years in a row. Of course the main reason they don’t want to miss just one 6N season is because it would probably tank the game in their country missing out on all that revenue. I have always said they should look at widening the revenue share, there are plenty of competitions that have systems to keep bottom teams competitive, and the 6N would only make more money if it was a tierd competition with prom/rel.

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