Wales v England: Dan Biggar replaces injured Gareth Anscombe at fly-half
- Published
Gatland expects Wales improvement in Cardiff
World Cup warm-up: Wales v England |
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Venue: Principality Stadium, Cardiff Date: Saturday, 17 August Kick-off: 14:15 BST |
Coverage: Live on BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru, BBC 5 Live Extra & BBC Sport website and BBC Sport app, plus live text commentary |
Dan Biggar starts at fly-half for Wales in their second World Cup warm-up game against England in Cardiff on Saturday.
First-choice fly-half Gareth Anscombe was ruled out of the Rugby World Cup with a knee injury following last week's defeat at Twickenham.
Scarlets pair James Davies and Jake Ball replace the injured Adam Beard and Justin Tipuric, both suffered minor injuries last week and are not risked.
Jarrod Evans is given the chance to deputise for Biggar over Rhys Patchell.
Flanker Josh Navidi also returns on the bench after dislocating his elbow in March 2019 but there is still no place for Cardiff Blues scrum-half Tomos Williams who had a scan on a shoulder injury this week.
James Davies will join older brother Jonathan in a Wales team for the first time. The Scarlets duo will be the first brothers to play alongside each other for Wales since Jamie and Nicky Robinson in 2006.
"This weekend is another opportunity for us to take the field, test ourselves and continue our preparation for Japan," said Wales head coach Warren Gatland.
"It is a little over five weeks until we kick off our campaign in Toyota against Georgia and it is important we are fully prepared and rugby-ready by then.
"We were disappointed to get the loss last weekend so it is important we step it up on Saturday and put in a big display in front a of a packed Principality Stadium.
"The squad are looking forward to getting back out there, taking another step towards the RWC and putting in a big performance."
Wales team: Liam Williams (Saracens, 56 Caps); George North (Ospreys, 84 Caps), Jonathan Davies (Scarlets, 74 Caps), Hadleigh Parkes (Scarlets, 16 Caps), Josh Adams (Cardiff Blues, 11 Caps); Dan Biggar (Northampton Saints, 71 Caps), Gareth Davies (Scarlets, 42 Caps); Nicky Smith (Ospreys, 29 Caps), Ken Owens (Scarlets, 65 Caps), Tomas Francis (Exeter Chiefs, 41 Caps), Jake Ball (Scarlets, 33 Caps), Alun Wyn Jones (C) (Ospreys, 126 Caps), Aaron Wainwright (Dragons, 9 Caps), James Davies (Scarlets, 3 Caps), Ross Moriarty (Dragons, 32 Caps)
Replacements: Elliot Dee (Dragons, 19 Caps), Wyn Jones (Scarlets, 13 Caps), Dillon Lewis (Cardiff Blues, 13 Caps), Aaron Shingler (Scarlets, 18 Caps), Josh Navidi (Cardiff Blues, 16 Caps), Aled Davies (Ospreys, 17 Caps), Jarrod Evans (Cardiff Blues, 1 Cap), Owen Watkin (Ospreys, 14 Caps)