Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

Wales make 9 changes from team that faced France in Six Nations

(Photo by PA)

Wayne Pivac has named a Wales team to face the All Blacks this Saturday in Cardiff showing nine changes from the side that lost out 32-30 last March in the Six Nations Grand Slam decider versus France in Paris. The Welsh were ultimately crowned 2021 champions despite that loss and having since used summer matches versus Canada and Argentina (twice) to assess squad depth, Pivac has now shown his hand for this weekend’s eagerly awaited game.

ADVERTISEMENT

Injuries and non-player release due to the match falling outside of the agreed World Rugby window hugely influenced Pivac’s Wales pick to take on the All Blacks but one constant between now and last March is the presence of Alun Wyn Jones as skipper for his 149th Test appearance, surpassing Richie McCaw’s record of 148 appearances for New Zealand.

Pivac initially named an experienced front row with Scarlets and Lions teammates Wyn Jones and Ken Owens joined by Ospreys’ Tomas Francis. However, he was forced into a rejig barely 30 minutes later as Owens failed a fitness test and the No2 Wales jersey will now be worn against the All Blacks by Ryan Elias, with uncapped Cardiff player Kirby Myhill providing bench cover.

Video Spacer

Andy Powell guests on the latest RugbyPass Offload

Video Spacer

Andy Powell guests on the latest RugbyPass Offload

It is an Ospreys second row pairing with Adam Beard lining up alongside captain Jones. The Dragons trio of Ross Moriarty, Taine Basham and Aaron Wainwright get the nod in the back row. Cardiff’s Tomos Williams and Ospreys’ Gareth Anscombe line up at half-back in what will be Anscombe’s first Test since his serious injury in August 2019.  Scarlets centre pairing Johnny Williams and Jonathan Davies take their place in midfield with Cardiff wingers Josh Adams and Owen Lane linking up with Scarlets full-back Johnny McNicholl in the backfield.

“The focus for this group has been two weeks of training. They have worked really, really hard and it has galvanised them. We have been low on numbers this week so it hasn’t been the normal preparation in terms of exact numbers to train against each other, so that’s been a challenge,” said Pivac, who faced into making his selection before the loss of Owens knowing that Liam Williams, George North, Josh Navidi and Justin Tupuric were missing through injury and Louis Rees-Zammit, Dan Biggar and Taulupe Faletau were unavailable due to being based at clubs in England. Scrum-half Davies, another starter in Paris, is named on this weekend’s bench.

“It’s a big blow to lose any player that you have initially selected. We have selected a certain side and trained a certain way. It is a disruption, but it’s a massive chance for Ryan. Ken has got a back problem. We rested him from training on Tuesday and we asked him to do a couple of things this morning. We checked him again just after lunch and the decision was made that he won’t be right and we won’t risk him.

“The guys are really excited but they know it is a big task at hand. The reality is we are two years away from a Rugby World Cup and we are building towards that. We have got a Six Nations around the corner to defend. They know it is a massive challenge ahead. Every young Welsh player when they are growing up wants to play at the Principality in front of 75,000, and if you ask them who they want to play against New Zealand would be one of the top few sides they would choose.

ADVERTISEMENT

“With injuries and unavailability, it’s another great opportunity for players like Taine Basham and Ben Thomas to come into the group and gain valuable experience. They are going to come away from this Test match knowing what it is like to play one of the best teams in the world. To win a World Cup you have to play against teams like New Zealand at some stage in the tournament and you have to win those games. It’s going to be a great experience for those guys who haven’t played a lot of Test rugby and they will certainly know they have been in a match afterwards.”

WALES (vs New Zealand, Saturday)
15. Johnny McNicholl; 14. Owen Lane, 13. Jonathan Davies, 12. Johnny Williams, 11. Josh Adams; 10. Gareth Anscombe, 9. Tomos Williams; 1. Wyn Jones, 2. Ryan Elias (Ken Owens ruled out after being initially named as starting hooker), 3. Tomas Francis, 4. Adam Beard, 5. Alun Wyn Jones (capt), 6. Ross Moriarty, 7. Taine Basham, 8. Aaron Wainwright. Reps: 16. Kirby Myhill, 17. Rhys Carre, 18. Dillon Lewis, 19. Will Rowlands, 20. Seb Davies, 21. Gareth Davies, 22. Rhys Priestland, 23. Ben Thomas.

ADVERTISEMENT

LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

O
Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
LONG READ
LONG READ The joy, spirit and obstacles of the rugby pilgrim The joy, spirit and obstacles of the rugby pilgrim
Search