Tomos Williams will make his Six Nations debut against France in Paris on Friday night after getting the nod for the scrum-half spot. The Cardiff Blues ace has been picked ahead of Gareth Davies – who starts on the bench – by head coach Warren Gatland. Gatland has made just three changes to the team that beat South Africa last November despite Wales’ injury issues over the past few weeks.

Tomos Williams grew up wishing he was Kobe Bryant or Shaq O’Neal but now wants to be the new Mike Phillips. Wales have not had an undisputed, unchallenged, first-name-on the-team-sheet scrum-half since the days of Phillips, the almost original Iron Mike. But Williams – who grew up favouring basketball over rugby and idolised the top American stars – has big plans ahead, starting with Friday night in Paris, and Warren Gatland might just share them.