Alun Wyn Jones to equal Welsh record in opener

Adam Kyriacou
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Wales head coach Warren Gatland has named a strong XV for their opening Rugby World Cup game against Georgia at the City of Toyota Stadium.

Skipper Alun Wyn Jones wins his 129th cap to equal the Wales record of Gethin Jenkins. He will be joined in the engine room by Jake Ball with Wales only having two fit second-rows.

Flanker Aaron Wainwright, tipped to be one of the stars of the tournament, will make his Rugby World Cup debut.

Wales field 10 of the starting XV who played against Ireland in Wales’s last outing. Elliot Dee, Ross Moriarty, Tomos Williams, Rhys Patchell, and Leigh Halfpenny were starters that day but are moved to the bench for Monday’s game.

Four players return to the starting line-up from Wales’ starting line-up who lost to South Africa in the quarter-final four years ago. Alun Wyn Jones, Gareth Davies, Dan Biggar, and George North all featured that day. North has moved from number 11 to 14.

With an average age of 28 years 331 days this is the oldest Wales starting XV at the Rugby World Cup – 80 days per man older than the team which beat Japan 72-18 at Rugby World Cup 2007.

For the fourth World Cup in a row a Welsh player is playing at his fourth World Cup. Alun Wyn Jones joins Gareth Thomas (1995–2007), current attack coach Stephen Jones (1999-2011), and Gethin Jenkins (2003–2015) in featuring in a quartet of Rugby World Cups.

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 Tom 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 Leigh Halfpenny

Date: Monday, September 23
Venue: City of Toyota Stadium, Toyota
Kick-off: 19:15 local (11:15 BST, 10:15 GMT)
Referee: Luke Pearce (England)
Assistant Referees: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand), Matthew Carley (England)
TMO: Rowan Kitt (England)

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