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Wales name team for France
Wales have named their team to take on France on Friday evening in their opening match of the 2019 Six Nations.
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Warren Gatland’s will be captained by Alun Wyn Jones, making his 49th appearance in the tournament.
Jones lines up in the second-row alongside fellow Osprey Adam Beard with Josh Navidi returning from injury to start in the back-row alongside British & Irish Lions Justin Tipuric and Ross Moriarty.
In the front-row Rob Evans and Tomas Francis pack down alongside Ken Owens who becomes Wales’ most capped hooker, making his 61st appearance for his county.
Tomos Williams will make his first Six Nations appearance at scrum-half lining up alongside regional teammate Gareth Anscombe at fly-half.
TEAM NEWS ??????? Your Wales side to take on @FFRugby at the Stade de France ? Dyma eich tîm am gêm enfawr agoriadol #GuinnessSixNations ym Mharis. #HWFN #ForTheJersey pic.twitter.com/GrkXX21Hh2
— Welsh Rugby Union ? (@WelshRugbyUnion) January 30, 2019
Scarlets duo Hadleigh Parkes and Jonathan Davies continue their partnership in midfield with Josh Adams, George North and Liam Williams comprising the back-three.
Wales, who finished second in the tournament in 2018, face France in Paris on Friday before travelling to Rome to play Italy the weekend after. Warren Gatland’s team is currently on a nine match winning streak and Wales’ head coach knows the importance of starting their campaign well.
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“We are looking forward to kicking off the Six Nations and kicking off our 2019 campaign as a whole,” said Wales head coach Warren Gatland.
“We come into the game on an impressive run of results but we know how tough it will be to face France in Paris in the tournament opener.
“It will be a huge contest but we are excited going into it. We have a great deal of experience across the team and on the bench and we want to kick things off well on Friday.”
Elliot Dee, Wyn Jones and Samson Lee provide Wales’ front-row replacements with Dragons pair Cory Hill and Aaron Wainwright completing the forward contingent. The experience continues on the bench with Gareth Davies, Dan Biggar and Owen Watkin providing the backline cover.
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WALES TEAM TO PLAY FRANCE:
(Friday February 1st KO 21.00 Local, 20.00 UK – BBC ONE)
15. Liam Williams (51 Caps)
14. George North (79 Caps)
13. Jonathan Davies (68 Caps)
12. Hadleigh Parkes (11 Caps)
11. Josh Adams (6 Caps)
10. Gareth Anscombe (21 Caps)
9. Tomos Williams (6 Caps)
1. Rob Evans (31 Caps)
2. Ken Owens (60 Caps)
3. Tomas Francis (36 Caps)
4. Adam Beard (8 Caps)
5. Alun Wyn Jones (120 Caps) (CAPT)
6. Josh Navidi (11 Caps)
7. Justin Tipuric (60 Caps)
8. Ross Moriarty (26 Caps)
REPLACEMENTS:
16. Elliot Dee (13 Caps)
17. Wyn Jones (10 Caps)
18. Samson Lee (38 Caps)
19. Cory Hill (22 Caps)
20. Aaron Wainwright (3 Caps)
21. Gareth Davies (36 Caps)
22. Dan Biggar (65 Caps)
23. Owen Watkin (8 Caps)
Comments on RugbyPass
Lets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
10 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
9 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
10 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
9 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
34 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
34 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
5 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
6 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
22 Go to comments