Cardiff back row Ellis Jenkins will captain Wales as they welcome Fiji to Principality Stadium on Sunday.
After a three year absence from the Test arena due to a serious knee injury, the academy product made an impressive return to Welsh colours last week against South Africa, taking over the captaincy duties in the latter stages as Jonathan Davies departed.
The 28 year old retains the number six jersey as Wayne Pivac makes a total of five changes for the encounter with the Pacific Islanders.
Joining Jenkins in the back row is Wasps’ openside Thomas Young, who came through the academy at Cardiff and is set to return to the Blue and Blacks next season.
Young is the only change made in the pack, as Dragons’ Taine Basham switches to number eight, meaning Rhys Carré continues at loosehead in an unchanged front row combination.
Cardiff’s British and Irish Lions star, Josh Adams, will line up at outside centre for the first time, with a total of four changes made to the backline. At the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan, Adams crossed for a hat-trick in his only outing against Fiji to date.
Cardiff academy product Alex Cuthbert, now of Ospreys, makes a long awaited return to the international stage, combining with Louis Rees-Zammit and Liam Williams in the back three, while Tomos Williams is named on the bench, having been replaced by Kieran Hardy in the starting XV.
Seb Davies is also named amongst the replacements for the third game running.
A total of 10 players in the matchday 23 have come through the club’s pathway, including Will Griff John, Callum Sheedy, Louis Rees-Zammit and uncapped forward, Christ Tshiunza.
Cardiff Rugby are offering a Buy One, Get One Free deal for all tickets for Sunday's clash, which are available by contacting [email protected] or by phoning 029 20 30 20 30 (9am-5pm).We also have tickets remaining as Wallabies visit the capital for the final clash of the autumn campaign, starting from just £25.
Head coach Pivac said: “It was a much improved performance from the week before. A game where we led for the first 70 minutes and it was really our own undoing with a little bit of a lapse in discipline and a couple of penalties towards the end.
“I thought defensively we worked really hard. There was a lot to be pleased about. We would have loved to have won the match, we were disappointed with the end result but there were a lot of positives to take out of the game moving forward.”
“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. 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.
“Fiji are big, powerful and very quick out-wide. The introduction of Alex Cuthbert, along with Louis Rees-Zammit, is an eye on the speed that the Fijians will bring and we need to be able to match that. The offloading game that they bring is certainly different to the South Africans.
“They are a good side. They’re a much-improved side of some of the Fiji teams of old, certainly since when I was involved with Fiji they’ve come a long.”
Wales team to face Fiji, at Principality Stadium, on Sunday 14th November 2021;
15 Liam Williams (Scarlets)
14 Alex Cuthbert (Ospreys)
13 Josh Adams (Cardiff Rugby)
12 Johnny Williams (Scarlets)
11 Louis Rees-Zammit (Gloucester Rugby)
10 Dan Biggar (Northampton Saints)
9 Kieran Hardy (Scarlets)
1 Rhys Carré (Cardiff Rugby)
2 Ryan Elias (Scarlets)
3 Tomas Francis (Ospreys)
4 Will Rowlands (Dragons)
5 Adam Beard (Ospreys)
6 Ellis Jenkins (Cardiff Rugby - captain)
7 Thomas Young (Wasps Rugby)
8 Taine Basham (Dragons)
Replacements;
16 Bradley Roberts (Ulster)
17 Gareth Thomas (Ospreys)
18 WillGriff John (Scarlets)
19 Christ Tshiunza (Exeter Chiefs - uncapped)
20 Seb Davies (Cardiff Rugby)
21 Tomos Williams (Cardiff Rugby)
22 Callum Sheedy (Bristol Bears)
23 Nick Tompkins (Saracens)