Hill leads Wales as Grace makes first appearance

Cory Hill captains Wales again while Regan Grace will get his first start in the uncapped match against Queensland Reds

Lock Cory Hill will captain Wales against Queensland Reds in Brisbane on Friday with wing Regan Grace making his first appearance for the national side.

Hooker Dewi Lake has led Wales in the three summer Tests against South Africa and Australia but is not involved in the uncapped tour match .

Scarlets scrum-half Gareth Davies is named vice-captain.

Head coach Warren Gatland has made multiple changes from the side that lost the Test series 2-0 to the Wallabies.

Only Cameron Winnett, Rio Dyer, Archie Griffin, Christ Tshiunza and Taine Plumtree survive from the starting side in Melbourne last weekend.

Tshiunza moves from lock to blind-side flanker, while Plumtree will pack down at open-side, meaning he has started in all three back-row positions on the tour of Australia.

Prop Kemsley Mathias, hooker Evan Lloyd, No. 8 Mackenzie Martin and centre Eddie James start in the red jersey for the first time, while hooker Efan Daniel could come off the bench.

Lock Ben Carter and full-back Jacob Beetham miss out through injury, while prop Dillon Lewis was not selected after recovering from a back problem because he has not had enough training.

The game against the Reds is the final match of a long season with Wales having their last nine internationals.

Controversial captain's choice

Cory Hill, who has played 34 times for Wales, leads the discussions during a training session in Brisbane

Gatland has made a controversial choice by naming Hill as captain.

The 32-year-old was selected for the summer tour after a three-year international absence.

Hill was named among a group of men who damaged a woman's house in May 2021.

He was never charged by police, but issued an apology.

Having selected Hill for this summer's squad, Gatland said last month they had "moved past" the incident.

Gatland said: "He has [apologised] and that was dealt with by Cardiff. For us, that time-frame has gone.

"He's been in the [team HQ] training and we've had a conversation with him about potentially being available through to the World Cup."

Hill left Wales for Yokohama Canon Eagles in 2021 before being named in Gatland's training squad for the 2023 World Cup.

The two-time Six Nations winner withdrew from the squad to take up a club contract with a new club in Japan, this time fourth division side Secom Rugguts.

After his recall this summer, Hill came on as a replacement in the defeats against Australia in Sydney and Melbourne.

Hill has led Wales before, having been co-captain with Ellis Jenkins for the 2018 summer tour matches against South Africa and Argentina.

Saving Grace

Regan Grace played six internationals for the Wales rugby league side

Grace, 27, is to make his first Wales appearance in rugby union having already represented his country in rugby league. He has never started a competitive rugby union match.

The Bath wing was a shock call-up to the Wales squad when he was brought into replace the injured Keelan Giles.

Grace was born in Port Talbot and, after playing for Ospreys Under-16s, spent six seasons with St Helens, during which he won three Super League Grand Finals and the Challenge Cup.

He announced he was switching codes in July 2022 to link up with Racing 92 but ruptured his Achilles while playing for St Helens in August that year.

Grace did not make an appearance for the French Top 14 side after a relapse of the injury in February 2023.

Grace joined Bath in February as he recovered from a long-term injury and played in two friendlies for the club in March, against Gloucester and Leinster.

In April, Bath signed Grace on a deal until the end of the 2024-25 season, which includes the option of him staying for the 2025-26 campaign.

Chance to impress

Australia fly-half James O'Connor has been named in a Queensland Reds side who have 14 players with Super Rugby experience and are playing against a national team for the first time in 20 years.

Gatland says he wanted to give everybody a chance to play on tour.

"We said that we want the players that have come out here on tour to have an involvement whether that is starting or in the 23," said Gatland.

"That was always the plan. Unfortunately a few players miss out due to injury, but this game against the Queensland Reds gives a number of others an opportunity to go out and put in a performance.

"I've been pleased with the growth we've seen in the squad over the last three or four weeks and that growth will continue.

"We're expecting a good challenge from the Reds on Friday and know they will be up for this fixture."

Queensland Reds: Jock Campbell (capt); Floyd Aubrey, Tim Ryan, Dre Pakeho, Mac Grealy; James O'Connor, Louis Werchon; Sef Fa'agase, Richie Asiata, Jeffrey Toomaga-Allen, Connor Vest, Ryan Smith, Seru Uru, John Bryant, Joe Brial.

Replacements: George Blake, Matt Gibbon, Massimo De Lutiis, Josh Canham, Connor Anderson, Will Cartwright, Mason Gordon, Lachie Anderson.

Wales: Cameron Winnett; Rio Dyer, Nick Tompkins, Eddie James, Regan Grace; Sam Costelow, Gareth Davies; Kemsley Mathias, Evan Lloyd, Archie Griffin, Matthew Screech, Cory Hill (capt), Christ Tshiunza, Taine Plumtree, Mackenzie Martin.

Replacements: Efan Daniel, Corey Domachowski, Harri O'Connor, Dafydd Jenkins, Tommy Reffell, Kieran Hardy, Ben Thomas, Mason Grady.