WALES BOSS WARREN Gatland has left out three British and Irish Lions – Alun Wyn Jones, Justin Tipuric and Taulupe Faletau – from the starting line-up for Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations clash with Scotland [KO 6.45pm, Virgin Media One/BBC One].
The trio boast 342 Wales caps and 18 Lions Test appearances between them.
Lock Jones, who failed a head injury assessment against Ireland last weekend but was ruled available for selection, and flanker Tipuric are not in the matchday 23 for Murrayfield, while number eight Faletau has to be content with a bench spot.
They represent huge selection calls by Gatland following Ireland’s dominant 34-10 victory in Cardiff.
Exeter lock Dafydd Jenkins replaces Jones, with his Chiefs colleague Christ Tshiunza packing down at blindside flanker in a reshaped back row that sees Leicester’s Tommy Reffell taking the number seven shirt off Tipuric and Jac Morgan switching to number eight instead of Faletau.
🏴 𝐂𝐘𝐌𝐑𝐔 𝐗𝐕 🏴
— Welsh Rugby Union 🏴 (@WelshRugbyUnion) February 9, 2023
The Welsh 23 headed to Scotland 🏴
💪 Amdani Cymru!#WelshRugby | #GuinnessSixNations
Lock Jones was cleared to add to his world record 168 Test match appearances in Wales and Lions colours despite going off during the second half against Ireland.
But Gatland has handed 20-year-old Jenkins a first international start alongside second-row partner Adam Beard, with 21-year-old Tshiunza also making a full Test bow.
Two other changes see Scarlets prop Wyn Jones recalled instead of Gareth Thomas, while tighthead Dillon Lewis replaces Tomas Francis, with Gatland retaining the back division that started against Ireland.
Jones, who will be 38 later this year, misses out to a player 17 years his junior, but one who has already captained Exeter in the Gallagher Premiership.
Tshiunza, meanwhile, offers a ball-carrying presence and a considerable lineout option, with that critical set-piece department having proved a major problem area during the Ireland defeat.
1⃣ change to the Scotland team to take on Wales.
— Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) February 9, 2023
Good to have you back, Zander.
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Gatland said: “We’ve made some changes but tried to keep some continuity with the same backline.
“Dafydd Jenkins comes into the second row, looking a bit to the future. Christ Tshiunza as well. We are looking at options at eight if Toby (Taulupe) Faletau picks up an injury, so Jac gets that chance.
“We thought we created opportunities last week but we weren’t clinical enough in terms of finishing off some of those chances.
We need to start better. We gave away some stupid penalties and unforced penalties when we weren’t really under a lot of pressure, so that has again been an area that we’ve spoken about.
“We have tried to focus on the positives and the things that we can address ourselves.”
For Scotland, Zander Fagerson will make his first appearance in more than two months when he starts.
In the only change to their XV that began last weekend’s victory away to England, the Glasgow prop will replace WP Nel in the number three jersey after recovering from a hamstring injury sustained at the start of December.
There is still no place in the matchday pool for Edinburgh flanker Hamish Watson, who is working his way back into contention following recent issues with concussion.
Wales:
15. Liam Williams
14. Josh Adams
13. George North
12. Joe Hawkins
11. Rio Dyer
10. Dan Biggar
9. Tomos Williams
1. Wyn Jones
2. Ken Owens (captain)
3. Dillon Lewis
4. Dafydd Jenkins
5. Adam Beard
6. Christ Tshiunza
7. Tommy Reffell
8. Jac Morgan
Replacements:
16. Scott Baldwin
17. Rhys Carre
18. Leon Brown
19. Rhys Davies
20. Taulupe Faletau
21. Rhys Webb
22. Rhys Patchell
23. Alex Cuthbert
Scotland:
15. Stuart Hogg
14. Kyle Steyn
13. Huw Jones
12. Sione Tuipulotu
11. Duhan van der Merwe
10. Finn Russell
9. Ben White
1. Pierre Schoeman
2. George Turner
3. Zander Fagerson
4. Richie Gray
5. Grant Gilchrist
6. Jamie Ritchie (captain)
7. Luke Crosbie
8. Matt Fagerson
Replacements:
16. Fraser Brown
17. Jamie Bhatti
18. WP Nel
19. Jonny Gray
20. Jack Dempsey
21. George Horne
22. Blair Kinghorn
23. Chris Harris
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