Alun Wyn Jones to break Welsh record against Australia
Wales coach Warren Gatland has named an unchanged starting XV to face Australia in their second Rugby World Cup Pool D encounter in Tokyo on Sunday.
Captain Alun Wyn Jones will make history in Japan this weekend as he becomes Wales’ all-time leading appearance record holder when he wins his 130th Test cap for his country.
Sunday will be Jones’ 119th start for Wales since he made his debut in 2006. In total, with nine additional British & Irish Lions Test appearances he moves onto 139 Test appearances, joint fourth on the all-time Test appearance list, level with former Australia captain George Gregan.
Alun Wyn Jones will break the Welsh record for most test appearances as part of an unchanged starting XV to face Australia in #RWCTokyo Cap rhif 130 i'r capten o Abertawe wrth i Gymru ddigyfnewid wynebu'r Wallabies yn brifddinas Japan ar ddydd Sul.
📰 – https://t.co/AqGz2elukG pic.twitter.com/rblk0jsrKJ
— Welsh Rugby Union 🏴 (@WelshRugbyUnion) September 27, 2019
Jones will feature in the same pack that recorded an opening bonus-point victory over Georgia on Monday evening. Jake Ball will pack down alongside the skipper with Wyn Jones, Ken Owens and Tomas Francis named in the front-row. Aaron Wainwright, Justin Tipuric and Josh Navidi form the back-row.
Gareth Davies and Dan Biggar continue their partnership at half-back with Hadleigh Parkes and Jonathan Davies lining up together in the midfield. Josh Adams, George North and Liam Williams are named as the back-three.
The one change in Wales’ matchday squad comes on the bench where Owen Watkin comes into the 23 jersey. He provides backline cover alongside Tomos Williams and Rhys Patchell. Elliot Dee, Nicky Smith and Dillon Lewis are named as the front-row replacements with Aaron Shingler and Ross Moriarty completing the line-up.
Wales: 15 Liam Williams, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Josh Navidi, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Aaron Wainwright, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 4 Jake Ball, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Ken Owens, 1 Wyn Jones
Replacements: 16 Elliot Dee, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Aaron Shingler, 20 Ross Moriarty, 21 Tomos Williams, 22 Rhys Patchell, 23 Owen Watkin
Date: Sunday, September 29
Venue: Tokyo Stadium, Tokyo
Kick-off: 16:45 local (08:45 BST, 07:45 GMT)
Referee: Romain Poite (France)
Assistant Referees: Luke Pearce (England), Karl Dickson (England)
TMO: Ben Skeen (New Zealand)