Wales will hand a debut to Jac Morgan in a new look loose-trio that sees a return for Ross Moriarty at number eight and a switch to the blindside for Taine Basham in their Six Nations clash against Scotland at the Principality Stadium on Saturday.
Wales are reeling from a comprehensive 29-7 loss in Ireland last weekend and coach Wayne Pivac has been dealt a further blow after Josh Adams, who played outside centre in Dublin, was ruled out against the Scots with a tight calf.
Owen Watkin replaces Adams in the midfield pairing and will be alongside Nick Tompkins. Alex Cuthbert makes his first Six Nations appearances since 2017 as part of a back three that also includes wing Louis Rees-Zammit and Liam Williams.
Outhalf Dan Biggar will make his 100th test appearance, and could be joined in bringing up the milestone by Jonathan Davies, who has been named among the replacements.
“To get a hundred test matches in total for any player from any country, it’s just a magnificent achievement. It shows the hard work and dedication they have put in and the sacrifice they have made over a number of years to get to this stage,” Pivac said.
“I’m very, very happy for both of those players to achieve it and to do it on the same day. They’ve played a lot of Test matches together in the past - it’s just going to be fantastic to see them both out there at some stage.”
Moriarty came off the bench in Dublin having returned from long-term injury and with Scotland likely to play an expansive game among their loose trio, has been selected to start.
“With Ross Moriarty now having had more training and game time under his belt we think he’s the right guy to start,” Pivac said.
“Jac Morgan comes in for his debut. He’s someone that’s really impressed us in training. He’s worked very, very hard, he gives us a lot of physicality and he’s very good over the ball.”
Scottish changes
Scotland will have a new front row for Saturday's clash after coach Gregor Townsend made five changes to his starting line-up following their narrow victory over England in their opening match last weekend.
Scotland will start in Cardiff with the front trio who came on to finish last Saturday’s game at Murrayfield, with Pierre Schoeman and WP Nel set to line up alongside hooker Stuart McInally from the start this time.
Scotland beat England 20-17 and began the tournament in impressive style. Sam Skinner replaces Jamie Ritchie on the flank. Ritchie had surgery on a hamstring injury suffered last weekend and will be out for the rest of the Six Nations.
Glasgow Warriors centre Sione Tuipulotu comes in for his third cap in place of Sam Johnson. Rory Darge will make his debut for his country if he comes off the bench, following an impressive season so far for the Warriors.
Wales: Liam Williams; Alex Cuthbert, Owen Watkin, Nick Tompkins, Louis Rees-Zammit; Dan Biggar (Capt), Tomos Williams; Wyn Jones, Ryan Elias, Tomas Francis; Will Rowlands, Adam Beard; Taine Basham, Jac Morgan, Ross Moriarty.
Replacements: Dewi Lake, Gareth Thomas, Dillon Lewis, Seb Davies, Aaron Wainwright, Gareth Davies, Callum Sheedy, Jonathan Davies.
Scotland: Stuart Hogg (Capt), Darcy Graham, Chris Harris, Sione Tuipulotu, Duhan van der Merwe; Finn Russell, Ali Price; Pierre Schoeman, Stuart McInally, WP Nel; Jonny Gray, Grant Gilchrist; Sam Skinner, Hamish Watson, Matt Fagerson.
Replacements: George Turner, Rory Sutherland, Zander Fagerson, Magnus Bradbury, Rory Darge, Ben White, Blair Kinghorn, Cameron Redpath.
