Wales v Fiji: Wing Alex Cuthbert back after four years as Wales make five changes
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Alex Cuthbert's return to Welsh rugby with Ospreys meant Wales could again select him
Autumn Nations Series: Wales v Fiji |
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Venue: Principality Stadium, Cardiff Date: Sunday, 14 November Kick-off: 15:15 GMT |
Coverage: Live text commentary on the BBC Sport website and app. Live commentary BBC Radio Cymru, updates on BBC Radio Wales. |
Wing Alex Cuthbert will make his first Wales appearance for four years as one of five personnel changes for Sunday's match against Fiji.
Full-back Liam Williams, scrum-half Kieran Hardy and centre Johnny Williams are recalled in a revamped backline.
Wasps flanker Thomas Young returns as the only change in the pack.
Fellow back row Ellis Jenkins captains Wales after starring in the defeat by South Africa last Saturday, his first Test for three years.
Dan Biggar stays at fly-half and Josh Adams moves from wing to centre.
Another positional change sees Taine Basham move from openside flanker to number eight for the injured Aaron Wainwright, who Wales hope will be fit to face Australia on 20 November.
Cuthbert became available for Pivac after signing for Ospreys from Exeter for the 2021-22 season and was called into Wales' autumn squad.
"Alex has gone well in the Premiership, he forced his way into a very strong side and played well at the back end of last season," said Pivac.
"He's come in, he's big and quick and he's got a lot of repeatability in him. He's very fit and he's been enjoying coming into camp, working hard and getting his volume up in training.
"We think he's good to go and we're looking at depth. We want competition for positions. We think that Alex can add to the depth that we're building."
Uncapped Exeter forward Christ Tshiunza is on the bench, where he will be joined by returning Bristol fly-half Callum Sheedy.
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Tshiunza, 19, is set to become the fourth player to make his Wales debut during this Autumn Nations Series.
"He's come in, he's trained well and with Ben Carter at 20 years of age and Christ at 19, it's very exciting," added Pivac.
"We're looking at him as a player, in the future, who can hopefully cover two positions, in the second row and at six.
Christ Tshiunza has yet to start an English Premiership game for Exeter Chiefs
"We're really looking forward to seeing him out there. He'll be full of energy, he's very excited about the opportunity and he's one for the future.
"We want to be able to use our squad where we can. In terms of the forwards we don't have a lot of options with injuries and unavailability."
On the rest of his selection, Pivac said: "The exciting one is Josh Adams getting an opportunity. That's really looking at the future.
"When you have to pick a World Cup squad of 33, you've got to have players that can play in more than one position and we've been wanting to do it for a while so we'll see how Josh goes in the midfield.
"Taine took a lot out of last weekend in terms of learnings and decision-making at breakdowns. He'll be much better for this series going forward, having just turned 22.
"He played a lot of his younger rugby at number eight prior to being converted to a seven. He's looking forward to the role.
"You know with the opposition we've got that you're going to take bumps along the way and with the injuries that we've had to the loose forwards, Thomas [Young] was always going to be involved.
"He's relishing getting a start."
Pivac coached Fiji between 2004 and 2007 so is aware of the attributes of this weekend's opposition.
"Fiji are big, powerful and very quick out wide," added Pivac.
"The offloading game that they bring is certainly different to the South Africans.
"They are a good side. They're a much-improved side [compared to] some of the Fiji teams of old. Certainly since when I was involved with Fiji, they've come a long way."
Wales struggled in the scrum last weekend against South Africa with Pivac admitting he was concerned about the fitness of his first-choice props Wyn Jones and Tomas Francis, while hooker Ken Owens is injured.
Jones has been been left out of the squad this weekend.
"We've come in undercooked," added Pivac.
"Wyn Jones, coming back from the Lions, knows he has some work to do to get to full fitness levels required to play at Test level. You could argue that Tomas Francis has some work to do by his own admission."
Wales: L Williams; Cuthbert, Adams, J Williams, Rees-Zammit; Biggar, Hardy; Carre, Elias, Francis, Rowlands, Beard, Jenkins (capt), Young, Basham.
Replacements: Roberts, Thomas, John, Tshiunza, Davies, T Williams, Sheedy, Tompkins.