WALES HEAD COACH Warren Gatland has made one change to his starting line-up for Saturday’s Six Nations clash against Scotland at Murrayfield, bringing in Ospreys lock Adam Beard to replace Cory Hill.
Hill will miss the rest of the tournament after suffering an ankle injury during Wales’s 21-13 victory over England 10 days ago.
Scarlets forward Jake Ball takes Beard’s place on the bench, with Gatland announcing the team 48 hours earlier than initially planned.
Although full-back Leigh Halfpenny continued his comeback for the Scarlets three days ago after suffering concussion in November, Gatland has retained Ospreys centre Owen Watkin as the outside back on replacement duty.
Wales are chasing a 13th successive victory, having not been beaten since the midway point of last season’s Six Nations, when Ireland toppled them 37-27 in Dublin.
If they beat Scotland and defeat Ireland in Cardiff seven days later it would secure the title and a Grand Slam in Gatland’s final Six Nations campaign at the helm.
Although Wales lost to Scotland in Edinburgh on their last visit two years ago, they had won the four previous Murrayfield encounters.
And they will face a Scotland side beaten by Ireland and France in their past two Six Nations outings.
Wales last won the Six Nations in 2013, a year after their most recent Grand Slam.
Wales (v Scotland):
15. Liam Williams
14. George North
13. Jonathan Davies
12. Hadleigh Parkes
11. Josh Adams
10. Gareth Anscombe
9. Gareth Davies
1. Rob Evans
2. Ken Owens
3. Tomas Francis
4. Adam Beard
5. Alun Wyn Jones (captain)
6. Josh Navidi
7. Justin Tipuric
8. Ross Moriarty
Replacements:
16. Elliot Dee
17. Nicky Smith
18. Dillon Lewis
19. Jake Ball,
20. Aaron Wainwright
21. Aled Davies
22. Dan Biggar
23. Owen Watkin
Subscribe to our new podcast, The42 Rugby Weekly, here:
