Captain Alun Wyn Jones returns to lead Wales in their final 2018 NatWest 6 Nations match against France on Saturday (KO17.00). Jones comes back into the pack along with Scarlets duo Rob Evans and Ken Owens and flanker Josh Navidi.

Warren Gatland is hoping the handing of the captain’s armband to Taulupe Faletau will improve the one area of the back row forward’s game where he falls below expectations. The phrase “lead by example” might have been made for softly-spoken Faletau since he is a player who prefers to communicate through deeds rather than words. When the Bath No.8 speaks up, ears usually have to be leaned in his direction and anyone who misses the start of things has normally escaped the core message.

Taulupe Faletau will lead Wales for the first time as he returns to the starting line-up as captain for Sunday’s NatWest 6 Nations clash against Italy in Cardiff (KO 15:00). The 70-times capped No. 8 returns from injury to take the captain’s armband and will line-up in a new look back row for Wales with fellow British & Irish Lion Justin Tipuric wearing six with Scarlets flanker James Davies making his international debut at openside. Experienced Bradley Davies, who has featured in all three opening Six Nations encounters for Wales from the bench, starts alongside Cory Hill in the second-row for the match that is part of a double-header with Wales Women (who kick off at 11:45). ​

James Davies is finally poised to make his Wales debut against Italy on Sunday. The Scarlets flanker is set to be named as one of 10 changes when coach Warren Gatland announces his team on Wednesday lunchtime. It has been a long and winding road for 27-year-old Davies, who made his Scarlets debut four years ago as a late developer who had spent four years previously with Carmarthen Quins.

The head count has begun for Wales coach Warren Gatland who must survey the battlefield after four months of the rugby season and decide who is still standing and therefore available for the Six Nations. Not many is the short answer, says Robin Davey, who argues the lawmakers are still ignoring pointlessly dangerous areas of the sport. New year – but same old story as injuries continue to pile up at international and regional/club level, with Wales particularly hard hit. The national team look like heading into the penultimate Six Nations tournament before the World Cup with a team ravaged by injuries.

Wales wing George North is likely to miss the start of the Six Nations after suffering another knee injury that will sideline him for up to a month. It means that North, who only returned to action last Saturday following an 11-week absence because of knee trouble, faces a race to be fit for Wales’ Six Nations opener against Scotland on February 3. “George North sustained an injury to his knee during Saints’ defeat to Harlequins on Saturday at Twickenham which will require up to four weeks’ rehabilitation,” Northampton said in a statement.

Taulupe Faletau has joined the list of players who will watch the start of the Six Nations from the discomfort of an armchair, painkilllers close at hand. Robin Davey says the game is brutalising itself, denying fans of star names and putting strains on teams’ finances, never mind the strains on the bodies themselves. Rugby is in crisis with injuries mounting on an almost daily basis, player after player going down to stretch resources of club, region and country to the absolute limit. The effect is to seriously weaken teams – whether domestic or international – deprive fans of the ability to watch their favourite players, which they pay heavily to see, and forces regions and clubs to lengthen their squads considerably, incurring debts in the process.

Taulupe Faletau’s club Bath are set to be hit with a fine for allowing the Wales No.8 to play against South Africa. The Lions forward was granted release by the club even though the match fell outside of the World Rugby approved international window. Faletau has a clause in his contract with Bath that provides him with release for all Wales matches, even if the club are playing on the same weekend – as was the case last Saturday.

Two of the old southern giants – Australia and New Zealand – have been and gone through Cardiff this month. Wales lost both Tests, but South Africa presents a significant opportunity. Geraint Powell offers a guide as to why a victory over the Springboks these days – although not to be sniffed at – is almost as devalued as their currency. My previous reviews of the landscape and the visitors ahead of the Wallabies (http://www.dai-sport.com/resurgent-wallabies-nous-make-unlucky-13-warren-gatland/) and the All Blacks (http://www.dai-sport.com/blacks-tired-jaded-weakened-dont-bet-house-red/) Test matches were each followed by the historically and statistically probable Welsh defeats. If last Saturday saw the remaining sole superpower of global rugby show why they are still the best – the All Blacks beating Wales without three-quarters of their first choice pack and reminding us all how they clinically execute the basic skills at a high tempo for 80 minutes – this Saturday sees the visit of the other historic superpower of rugby union, the fallen giants of South Africa.

Seb Davies admits he has no role models as a No.8, but would be happy to base his game on Taulupe Faletau – the player Warren Gatland hopes he will one day challenge. Davies makes his first home Test appearance for Wales against Georgia on Saturday, but not in the role Cardiff Blues fans have seen him catch the eye as a ball-handling second row this season. Instead, the 21-year-old – who won his first two caps on tour against Tonga and Samoa this summer – will pack down at No.8.

Scarlets forward Tadhg Beirne wants to play for Ireland and admits he has to go home to fulfil that ambition. Welsh players who cross borders face the same dilemma, but Robin Davey believes such demands are outmoded and have no place in the modern sporting era. Yet again the thorny subject of player qualification has reared its head, this time the case of Irish lock Tadhg Beirne hitting the headlines. He really blossomed under the tutelage of the Scarlets last season, into an international prospect, after being rejected by the Irish provinces.

The Lions are still caged in UK rugby, but in little more than two weeks we will know which players are to be unleased to take on the All Blacks. Robin Davey argues Wales will provide at least seven from a team that finished fifth in the Six Nations. Wales may have finished a lowly fifth in the recent Six Nations Championship, but there’s every chance they will have a healthy representation on the Lions tour to New Zealand this summer. And there’s a strong possibility they’ll provide the captain as well when the Lions bid to win the Test series in the home of world champions New Zealand.