Wyn named in Wales starting line-up for Edinburgh

Rob Lloyd News

Scarlets prop Wyn Jones is recalled to the Wales starting line-up for the 2023 Guinness Six Nations clash with Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday (KO 4.45pm live on BBC and S4C).

Jones, who missed the autumn series because of a knee injury, joins skipper Ken Owens in the starting XV, while fellow Scarlet Rhys Patchell comes onto the bench.

There are six changes, one of them positional, to the Wales XV that faced Ireland last weekend.

Head coach Warren Gatland said: “We’ve made some changes but tried to keep some continuity with the same backline. Wyn has been working really hard in the last three weeks in camp and he gets an opportunity. Then Dafydd Jenkins comes into the second row, looking a bit to the future. Christ Tshiunza as well. We’re looking at options at eight if Toby Faletau picks up an injury who’s going to cover there, so Jac gets that chance.

“We thought we created opportunities last week but we weren’t clinical enough in terms of finishing off some of those chances. We need to start better. We gave away some stupid penalties and unforced penalties when we weren’t really under a lot of pressure so that’s again been an area that we’ve spoken about. We’ve tried to focus on the positives and the things that we can address ourselves.

“Scotland have some experience in that squad, so it’s going to be a great encounter and it’s a good test of the improvements that we can make from the things that we need to tidy up from last week.

Wales senior men’s team to face Scotland in the 2023 Guinness Six Nations, Saturday 11 February KO 4.45pm GMT. Live on BBC and S4C.

15. Liam Williams (Cardiff Rugby – 82 caps); 14. Josh Adams (Cardiff Rugby – 45 caps), 13. George North (Ospreys – 110 caps), 12. Joe Hawkins (Ospreys – 2 caps),  11. Rio Dyer (Dragons – 4 caps); 10. Dan Biggar (Toulon – 104 caps),  9. Tomos Williams (Cardiff Rugby – 41 caps); 1. Wyn Jones (Scarlets – 45 caps), 2. Ken Owens (Scarlets – 87 caps) captain, 3. Dillon Lewis (Cardiff Rugby – 46 caps), 4. Dafydd Jenkins (Exeter Chiefs – 2 caps), 5. Adam Beard (Ospreys – 42 caps), 6. Christ Tshiunza (Exeter Chiefs – 3 caps), 7. Tommy Reffell (Leicester Tigers – 5 caps), 8. Jac Morgan (Ospreys – 7 caps).
Replacements: 16. Scott Baldwin (Ospreys – 35 caps), 17. Rhys Carre (Cardiff Rugby – 18 caps), 18. Leon Brown (Dragons – 22 caps), 19. Rhys Davies (Ospreys – uncapped), 20. Taulupe Faletau (Cardiff Rugby – 96 caps), 21. Rhys Webb (Ospreys – 37 caps), 22. Rhys Patchell (Scarlets – 21 caps), 23. Alex Cuthbert (Ospreys – 56 caps).