Wales coach Warren Gatland made 13 changes to his starting XV to face Portugal on Saturday at the Allianz Riviera compared to the victorious Fiji team last weekend (32-26).
Winger Louis Rees-Zammit, author of a try against the Fijians, and third Talupe Faletau, lacking playing time, are the only two players to have been renewed. Behind their young captain and hooker Dewi Lake (24), who will play his first match in the World Cup, the Welsh will also be able to count on several experienced players such as full-back Leigh Halfpenny or third row Dan Lydiate.
Well off to a good start in Group C after their success against Fiji at the end of a spectacular and indecisive match until the end, Wales will then face Australia and Georgia.
Wales vs Portugal line-up:
Halfpenny – Rees-Zammit, Grady, J. Williams, Dyer – (o) Anscombe, (m) T. Williams – Lydiate, Faletau, Reffell – Tshiunza, Jenkins – Smith, Lake (c), Lewis
Remplaçants : Elias, Dormachowski, Francis, Beard, Basham, Davies, Costelow, Adams
“Don’t bury us,” asked Gatland on Thursday, he who dreams of leading his team to the first World Cup final in its history after failing in the last four in 2011 and 2019.
“We have performed well in previous World Cups and we would like to reach a final,” said the New Zealander at a press conference in Nice, recalled last December to the bedside of a Leek XV in bad shape. “This team is capable of doing something very special,” he said. “One of the priorities before the tournament was to make sure we became a very tough team to beat. Great things can happen if that’s the case.”
