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Wales opt for five changes against England, four alterations coming in their backline

(Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Wayne Pivac has made five changes to his Wales team to play England on Saturday in Cardiff in round three of the Guinness Six Nations following their February 13 25-24 away win over Scotland in Edinburgh. Just one of the changes comes in the pack, fit-again Josh Navidi slotting in at blindside in place of Aaron Wainwright. 

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In the backs, Kieran Hardy replaces Gareth Davies at scrum-half, there is a new midfield pairing in Jonathan Davies and George North who take over from Nick Tompkins and Owen Watkin. It will be a 100th Test cap appearance for North, who missed out against the Scots with a foot issue.  

Meanwhile, Josh Adams returns after his suspension to fit in on the left wing with Liam Williams, who wore the No11 jersey at Murrayfield, reverting to full-back instead of Leigh Halfpenny who was going through his return to play concussion protocols.  

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Nigel Owens guests on the latest RugbyPass Offload with Simon Zebo and Ryan Wilson

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“We have had a great two weeks leading into this game and we are looking forward to Saturday,” said Wales boss Pivac. “We continue to build and we know there is plenty left in us in terms of improvements from the opening two rounds. We are 2/2 but we want to continue to improve performance-wise.

“Saturday is a great milestone for George, it is a huge achievement at his age and we are looking forward to seeing him in action.” 

On the bench, Elliot Dee, Rhodri Jones and Leon Brown provide the front row cover for Wales with Cory Hill and James Botham completing the forward contingent. Gareth Davies, Callum Sheedy and Uilisi Halaholo provide the backline cover.

WALES (vs England, Saturday)
1. Wyn Jones (32 Caps)
2. Ken Owens (79 Caps)
3. Tomas Francis (54 Caps)
4. Adam Beard (23 Caps)
5. Alun Wyn Jones (CAPT) (145 Caps)
6. Josh Navidi (25 Caps)
7. Justin Tipuric (82 Caps)
8. Taulupe Faletau (83 Caps)
9. Kieran Hardy (3 Caps)
10. Dan Biggar (89 Caps)
11. Josh Adams (29 Caps)
12. Jonathan Davies (85 Caps)
13. George North (99 Caps)
14. Louis Rees-Zammit (6 Caps)
15. Liam Williams (68 Caps)

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Replacements:
16. Elliot Dee (34 Caps)
17. Rhodri Jones (19 Caps)
18. Leon Brown (14 Caps)
19. Cory Hill (29 Caps)
20. James Botham (4 Caps)
21. Gareth Davies (59 Caps)
22. Callum Sheedy (6 Caps)
23. Uilisi Halaholo (1 Cap)

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J
JW 47 minutes ago
Let's be real about these All Blacks

The opening loss to Argentina by 38-30..

Was anything but fine margins, the scoreline was flattering for that game. They were beat in every margin but most emphatically be effort of Argentina. They were slow and likely arrogant in their prep following the England series. You can see the effect on the selection and poor messaging all the playmakers started receiving from the coaching setup there after.


Otherwise though there was also a lot of really good stuff that can too easily be labelled as lucky by people intent on making a point. The team was far from certain and clinical though and the best that can be said of their losses was that they were largely due to some atrocious decisions with cards twice against SA and the neckroll last weekend (you can't take away the 14 point try, that is typical French rugby and to be expected).


This team is good enough to be able to cope with those sorts of difficulties if they could just execute a bit better (but only as well as they have traditionally mind you). Sound selections aside. Some good positivity in this article but we know it's not going to be easy as the ABs have just been trying to return to their DNA after Fosters control but countries like Aussie have a much bigger task in that respect and SA is even trying to change their DNA (again). Those two opponents (along with France obviously) are going to provide some tough competition in seeing who can lead into the 2027 RWC with the best prospects and form behind them.

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