Wales Gamble On Old Guard As Taulupe Faletau And Alex Cuthbert Given England Mission

Elsewhere in the back row Ross Moriarty switches to blind-side flanker and Taine Basham moves back to open-side flanker after an outing at blind side against Scotland.

Cuthbert will win his 50th cap for Wales this weekend after being selected on the wing. Josh Adams returns from injury to start also at wing, while Liam Williams remains at fullback.

Both Cutherbert and Faletau are now 31 and are veterans from Wales’ Grand Slam tournament of 2012 – a decade ago – which included the last championship win at Twickenham.

Among the replacements Leon Brown (tight-head prop) is in line to make his first appearance for Wales since last July. Kieran Hardy and Gareth Anscombe, who last featured for Wales in the autumn against Fiji and South Africa respectively, are named as half back cover. Jac Morgan is the other change to the bench from the Wales 23 versus Scotland at Principality Stadium.

 

• Team Announcement •

Here’s your Wales squad to face England at Twickenham in the third round of the #GuinnessSixNations.

➥Diwrnod arbennig i Alex Cuthbert yn cael ei 50fed cap a dychweliad Taulupe Faletau yn Rhif 8 yn Twickenham.#ENGvWAL

— Welsh Rugby Union 🏉 (@WelshRugbyUnion) February 24, 2022

Wales head coach Wayne Pivac said: “We’re very pleased to have the experienced Toby Faletau back. He’s trained well during the week and got 80 minutes under his belt last week. From our point of view he brings a lot of experience so we’re very excited to have Toby back.

“I’m also really pleased for Alex Cuthbert to get fifty Tests for his country. It’s a massive achievement. And it’s also great to have Josh Adams back from injury. They are two good players. That means Louis Rees-Zammit is the unfortunate one this week that misses out. But we’ve looked at the opposition we’re playing and niggly injuries that players pick up from time to time and we think that in this particular match, the way the game will go, that Alex and Josh are the right selection.

“Clearly everyone loves playing at home and it’s a first home game of the Guinness Six Nations for England. They will be tough opposition, they always are and both teams are still in this competition so there’s a lot at stake.

“We played well against Scotland, but we’ve challenged the boys to make sure that we have that same effort away from home this week.”

Wales senior men’s team to face England (Saturday 26 February, KO 4.45pm. Live on ITV and S4C).

 

We can’t wait for this one!

Eddie Jones has named his match day squad for #ENGvWAL 🌹@O2 | #WearTheRose

— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) February 24, 2022

England have named Manu Tuilagi and Courtney Lawes in their starting line-up.

England: 15. Freddie Steward, 14. Max Malins, 13. Henry Slade, 12. Manu Tuilagi, 11. Jack Nowell, 10. Marcus Smith, 9. Harry Randall, 1. Ellis Genge, 2. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3. Kyle Sinckler, 4. Charlie Ewels, 5. Maro Itoje ,6. Courtney Lawes (c), 7. Tom Curry, 8. Alex Dombrandt

Replacements: 16. Jamie George, 17. Joe Marler, 18. Will Stuart, 19. Nick Isiekwe, 20. Sam Simmonds, 21. Ben Youngs, 22. George Ford, 23. Elliot Daly.

 

Wales:

15. Liam Williams (Scarlets – 76 caps)

14. Alex Cuthbert (Ospreys – 49 caps)

13. Owen Watkin (Ospreys – 28 caps)

12. Nick Tompkins (Saracens – 18 caps)

11. Josh Adams (Cardiff Rugby – 36 caps)

10. Dan Biggar (Northampton Saints – 97 caps), captain

9. Tomos Williams (Cardiff Rugby – 31 caps)

1. Wyn Jones (Scarlets – 40 caps)

2. Ryan Elias (Scarlets – 25 caps)

3. Tomas Francis (Ospreys – 62 caps)

4. Will Rowlands (Dragons – 15 caps)

5. Adam Beard (Ospreys – 31 caps), vice-captain

6. Ross Moriarty (Dragons – 51 caps)

7. Taine Basham (Dragons – 9 caps)

8. Taulupe Faletau (Bath Rugby – 86 caps)

Replacements

16. Dewi Lake (Ospreys – 2 cap)

17. Gareth Thomas (Ospreys – 7 caps)

18. Leon Brown (Dragons – 20 caps)

19. Seb Davies (Cardiff Rugby – 14 caps)

20. Jac Morgan (Ospreys – 1 cap)

21. Kieran Hardy (Scarlets – 8 caps)

22. Gareth Anscombe (Ospreys – 29 caps)

23. Jonathan Davies (Scarlets – 94 caps)