Warren Gatland has named his Wales team to face England a day early, making seven changes to the side that fell short of a comeback victory over Scotland.
Half-backs Tomos Williams and Ioan Lloyd are handed starts after impressing in the second-half in Cardiff, while George North returns to outside centre for his 50th Six Nations appearance in the other change to the backline.
It’s an all-new front-row for the trip to Twickenham, with loose-head Gareth Thomas returning to line up alongside Elliot Dee and Keiron Assiratti – who both impressed off the bench against Scotland.
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The other change in the pack sees blindside flanker Alex Mann start after making his try-scoring debut off the bench last Saturday. Despite criticising him post-match, Gatland has opted to retain Josh Adams in his starting side.
On the bench, Archie Griffin is line for his debut, with Will Rowlands, Taine Basham, Kieran Hardy and Cai Evans all coming in as replacements.
Gatland said: We’ve been critical and tough on ourselves this week. That first half was nowhere near the standards we expect. We simply cannot start the same way this Saturday.
“We showed in the second half against Scotland what we are capable of. Now it’s about building on that performance and playing with some tempo from the off.
“We’ve made a few changes to the starting line-up this weekend which gives opportunities to the players coming in. We need to be accurate and keep our discipline.
“This is a massive game, not only because of the history and what it means to everyone in Wales. But it’s an opportunity to get things on track a bit more. England are in a rebuilding phase. We’ll go there with a lot of confidence we can build on that second-half and belief.”
Wales team to face England: Winnett; Dyer, North, Tompkins, Adams; Lloyd, Williams; Thomas, Dee, Assiratti, Jenkins (capt), Beard, Mann, Reffell, Wainwright.
Replacements: Elias, Domachowski, Griffin, Rowlands, Basham, Hardy, Evans, Grady.
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Olivia Martin is a dedicated sports journalist based in the UK. With a passion for various athletic disciplines, she covers everything from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis.
