Center Joe Roberts will make his debut for Wales in Saturday’s World Cup warm-up match against England at Twickenham, while Keiran Williams and Kemsley Mathias could have their first caps honored if they come on. Coach Warren Gatland has completely changed his squad from the one that beat England 20-9 in Cardiff last weekend, giving several players a chance ahead of his World Cup squad announcement in France, which will begin next month.
Roberts, 23, will be partnered with Nick Tompkins at centre, while full-back Liam Williams and wingers Josh Adams and Tom Rogers will form the back triangle. Owen Williams will start at fly-half and will be partnered by his namesake Tomos Williams at scrum-half. Substitute captain Dewi Lake replaces the injured Ryan Elias at hooker, while props Gareth Thomas and Tomas Francis will be alongside him. Rhys Davies and Adam Beard form the second row. Taine Plumtree is started at number eight, while Dan Lydiate and Tommy Reffell are in the fray.
“There’s an opportunity for another group of players who weren’t involved last week,” Gatland said. There is great competition within the team. I’m quite happy with the performance of the team and the result last week. It wasn’t perfect, but there’s an opportunity now for this band to show off.”
“We are in a period of transition, so I thought that we would not only build for the next few months, but also start thinking about what we will have to do with the next cycle of players, until 2027, ”continues the Welsh coach. Center Keiran Williams and prop Mathias are likely to get their first selections from the bench, which also includes experienced fly-half Dan Biggar.
15. Liam Williams, 14. Josh Adams, 13. Joe Roberts, 12. Nick Tompkins, 11. Tom Rogers, 10. Owen Williams, 9. Tomos Williams
1. Gareth Thomas, 2. Dewi Lake, 3. Tomas Francis, 4. Rhys Davies, 5. Adam Beard, 6. Dan Lydiate, 7. Tommy Reffell, 8. Taine Plumtree
Remplaçants : 16. Sam Parry, 17. Kemsley Mathias, 18. Dillon Lewis, 19. Christ Tshiunza, 20. Taine Basham, 21. Kieran Hardy, 22. Dan Biggar, 23. Keiran Williams
