MY ACCOUNT
Wales will give Josh Adams his first international start at centre when they take on Ireland in their opening game of their Six Nations title defence at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.
The Cardiff Blues star, who has scored 17 tries in 35 Tests for Wales, will be given the number 13 jersey for the first time as head coach Wayne Pivac attempts to rediscover the magic achieved in last year’s tournament when he moved George North to the role.
Adams will play in the midfield alongside Nick Tompkins, while Will Rowlands is back in the starting line up alongside vice-captain Adam Beard.
Taine Basham will be making his debut in the Six Nations in the back row with Aaron Wainwright and Ellis Jenkins.
Pivac told the Welsh Rugby Union website: “We’ve selected Josh Adams at 13. It’s something we’ve been thinking about for a while. He’s done it in training and in small doses at the end of a game. We think this is a golden opportunity to answer that question.”
On the prospect of facing Ireland, he added: “They’re a very, very tough, very physical side. So we know we’re going to have to step up in that area of the game and make sure we do that for 80 mins. We’ve got to be very disciplined and as a result be in there fighting for the right result.”
Ireland head coach Andy Farrell will give a debut to Connacht wing Mack Hansen, while Andrew Conway starts on the right wing, with Hugo Keenan at fullback.
Johnny Sexton captains Ireland in what will be his 102nd cap and 53rd Six Nations appearance.
Two players who could make their first Six Nations appearances are James Hume and Dan Sheehan, who are named among the replacements.
Ireland team: 15. Hugo Keenan, 14. Andrew Conway, 13. Garry Ringrose, 12. Bundee Aki 11. Mack Hansen, 10. Johnny Sexton, 9. Jamison Gibson Park, 1. Andrew Porter, 2. Ronan Kelleher, 3. Tadhg Furlong, 4. Tadhg Beirne, 5. James Ryan, 6. Caelan Doris, 7. Josh van der Flier, 8. Jack Conan
Replacements: 16. Dan Sheehan, 17. Cian Healy, 18. Finlay Bealham, 19. Ryan Baird, 20. Peter O’Mahony, 21. Conor Murray, 22. Joey Carbery, 23. James Hume
Wales team: 15. Liam Williams, 14. Johnny McNicholl, 13. Josh Adams, 12. Nick Tompkins, 11. Louis Rees-Zammit, 10. Dan Biggar, 9. Tomos Williams, 1. Wyn Jones, 2. Ryan Elias, 3. Tomas Francis, 4. Will Rowlands, 5. Adam Beard, 6. Ellis Jenkins, 7. Taine Basham, 8. Aaron Wainwright
Replacements: 16. Dewi Lake, 17. Gareth Thomas, 18. Dillon Lewis, 19. Seb Davies, 20. Ross Moriarty, 21. Gareth Davies, 22. Callum Sheedy, 23. Owen Watkin
