Wales Team Announcement

Mar 8 • General News, International • 2644 Views • Comments Off on Wales Team Announcement

Justin Tipuric will win his 50th cap as Wales name an unchanged matchday squad to face Ireland at Principality Stadium on Friday (KO 20.05 BBC/S4C).

Tipuric, who made his debut in Cardiff in 2011, will take to the field in his 25th RBS 6 Nations encounter and line-up alongside Sam Warburton and Ross Moriarty in the back-row.

Captain Alun Wyn Jones and Jake Ball continue their partnership in the second-row with Rob Evans, Ken Owens and Tomas Francis named in the front-row.

Ospreys pair Rhys Webb and Dan Biggar start at half-back with Scarlets duo Scott Williams and Jonathan Davies partnering in the midfield.

Liam Williams, George North and Leigh Halfpenny comprise the back-three as Wales welcome Ireland to Cardiff.

“We felt it was important the same group of players had the opportunity to go out and perform on Friday so we have named an unchanged matchday squad,” said Wales Head Coach Rob Howley.

“Friday night is an opportunity for us. There is a lot of experience in our group and you don’t become a bad team overnight. We want to show what we can do and that experience will be very important this week.

“We know we need to be more clinical and we need to execute better under pressure and we have been working hard on that during the last few weeks.

“Ireland is one of the in-form sides in world rugby and are coached very well and packed with experience and there is a number of interesting match-ups across both teams.

“We always say we are fortunate to have the best supporters in the world and we are eager to put in a performance for them under the lights at Principality Stadium on Friday.”

On the bench, Scott Baldwin, Nicky Smith, Samson Lee, Luke Charteris and Taulupe Faletau provide the forward cover. Gareth Davies, Sam Davies and Jamie Roberts are the backline replacements.

WALES TEAM TO PLAY IRELAND:

Leigh Halfpenny (Toulon) (69 Caps)
George North (Northampton Saints) (67 Caps)
Jonathan Davies (Scarlets) (62 Caps)
Scott Williams (Scarlets) (44 Caps)
Liam Williams (Scarlets) (41 Caps)
Dan Biggar (Ospreys) (54 Caps)
Rhys Webb (Ospreys) (26 Caps)

Rob Evans (Scarlets) (15 Caps)
Ken Owens (Scarlets) (48 Caps)
Tomas Francis (Exeter Chiefs) (20 Caps)
Jake Ball (Scarlets) (24 Caps)
Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys)(108 Caps) (CAPTAIN)
Sam Warburton (Cardiff Blues) (72 Caps)
Justin Tipuric (Ospreys) (49 Caps)
Ross Moriarty (Gloucester Rugby) (15 Caps)

Replacements:
Scott Baldwin (Ospreys) (31 Caps)
Nicky Smith (Ospreys) (10 Caps)
Samson Lee (Scarlets) (32 Caps)
Luke Charteris (Bath) (72 Caps)
Taulupe Faletau (Bath) (64 Caps)
Gareth Davies (Scarlets) (23 Caps)
Sam Davies (Ospreys) (5 Caps)
Jamie Roberts (Harlequins) (89 Caps)