Matt Sherratt is convinced the Wales players who suffered in Scotland can recover to beat England on Saturday.
The interim Wales coach has kept faith with 13 of the players who conceded five tries at Murrayfield inside the first 48 minutes, three inside the first 25.
Aaron Wainwright has replaced Tommy Reffell in the Wales back row, which may well have been the only change had Tom Rogers not broken his thumb. He has been replaced on the wing by Joe Roberts.
“I didn’t want to let 25 minutes of rugby dictate selection,” said Sherratt ahead of the final round of the Six Nations
“If any of us had that happen after a bad 25 minutes of work, none of us would be sat here.
“I didn’t want to go 20 minutes and have any scapegoats.
“It was a good Scotland team and it was away from home. We had a good team performance against Ireland and the team got back into it in Edinburgh. I thought, where we are at the moment, being consistent is massively important.”
Wainwright's inclusion means Wales captain Jac Morgan switches to his more familiar openside role and Leicester flanker Reffell drops to the replacements' bench.
Roberts impressed on the wing after coming on for Rogers in Edinburgh to win his fourth cap.
Wales go into Saturday's match at the Principality Stadium bidding to avoid a 17th successive Test defeat and 11th Six Nations loss on the bounce.
England, by contrast, will arrive in Cardiff as outside title contenders, although a win for France against Scotland will likely secure the trophy for Les Bleus.
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Saturday's match will also mark the end of Cardiff coach Sherratt's three-game stint as caretaker after the Englishman was parachuted in mid-tournament after a dire 22-15 defeat by Italy in Rome last month marked the end of Warren Gatland's unsuccessful second spell in charge.
Sherratt became emotional in his press conference when he spoke about what his brief spell in charge had given him, particularly in terms of shared family memories for his wife Katie, son Henry and daughter, Ruby..
“I’ve loved it. It’s been brilliant for me and my family,” he added.
“That’s been a massive influence for me, having my son at the games. Seeing my family enjoy coming to the games is massive. That’s a massive part of it, personally.
“It's been a pleasure to do. Getting to know the new players, some of the boys I’ve coached before, but the Scarlets back three and boys like Tommy Reffell, it’s been great coaching a new bunch of lads.
“One thing I will say about the staff and the players here, I know we haven’t had the results, but there’s a huge amount of effort and positivity in camp. We’ll keep plugging away and hopefully that will turn at some point.”
Wales are on the worst international losing streak in their history, having not won a Test since defeating Georgia at the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France.
But such is the Six Nations' points system that a lone bonus point in defeat by England could see Wales avoid a second straight bottom-of-the-table finish, even though they lost to Italy, with the Azzurri at home to Ireland on Saturday.
Wales were much improved in Sherratt's first game in charge, giving Ireland a genuine fright before going down 27-18 to the double defending champions.
They also demonstrated plenty of resilience and no little attacking skill in claiming two bonus points in Edinburgh after Scotland had surged into a 35-8 lead.
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Sherratt added: “It would be massive to win on Saturday. It would be brilliant.
“That’s a massive motivation as well if I’m honest. I would love to sign off (with a win), not for me but for the players and staff who have been here for a long time. It would be huge for them.
“It’s important that it’s not something we talk about a huge amount about in camp or you can get a bit desperate.
“Maybe the emotion takes over some of the technical or tactical aspects. There’ll be emotion on Saturday.
“It’s getting that balance between heart and brain. There’ll be stacks of heart. We need to get our game on the pitch. If that win comes, it would give everyone a massive lift, especially against England at home.”
Wales: Blair Murray; Ellis Mee, Max Llewellyn, Ben Thomas, Joe Roberts; Gareth Anscombe, Tomos Williams; Taulupe Faletau, Jac Morgan (capt), Aaron Wainwright; Dafydd Jenkins, Will Rowlands; WillGriff John, Elliot Dee, Nicky Smith
Replacements: Dewi Lake, Gareth Thomas, Keiron Assiratti, Teddy Williams, Tommy Reffell, Rhodri Williams, Jarrod Evans, Nick Tompkins
