George North returns as one of seven changes for Wales against England

Wales head coach Warren Gatland has made seven the changes to his starting line-up for their Round Two Six Nations encounter against England at Twickenham on Saturday.

Veteran utility back George North returns to the run-on side – to make his 50th Six Nations appearance – after missing last weekend’s Championship opener against Scotland due to a shoulder injury.

North replaces Owen Watkin at outside centre and forms a midfield combination with Nick Tompkins.

First Test start for Alex Mann

Meanwhile, after coming off the replacement bench last weekend to score a try on his Test debut, Alex Mann takes over from the injured James Botham on the blindside flank to make his first start in the international arena.

Mann is joined in the back-row by Aaron Wainwright and Tommy Reffell, who line up at number eight and on the openside flank respectively.

In other alterations, Tomos Williams takes over from Gareth Davies at scrum-half, while Ioan Lloyd joins him at fly-half with Sam Costelow ruled out with concussion.

Meanwhile, Gareth Thomas is from injury and packs down at loosehead prop alongside Elliot Dee (hooker) and Keiron Assiratti (tighthead prop) in a new-look front-row.

The rest of the Wales pack sees skipper Dafydd Jenkins and Adam Beard continue their partnership in the engine room. Elsewhere, Cameron Winnett continues at full-back alongside Rio Dyer and Josh Adams, who are the wings.

Amongst the replacements, Archie Griffin is in line to make his Test debut as the back-up tighthead prop, while Cai Evans would make his Six Nations bow if he comes off the bench as one of the backline replacements.

Will Rowlands (second-row), Taine Basham ( back-row) and Kieran Hardy (scrum-half) all return to Wales matchday squad as replacements. If Rowlands comes off the bench it will be his first Six Nations appearance since 2022 after missing last year’s Championship due to injury.

Corey Domachowski (loosehead prop) and Ryan Elias (hooker) provide the remaining forward cover while Mason Grady is the final backline replacement.

Gatland said: “We’ve been critical and tough on ourselves this week. That first half was nowhere near the standards we expect. We simply cannot start the same way this Saturday.

“We showed in the second half against Scotland what we are capable of. Now it’s about building on that performance and playing with some tempo from the off.

“We’ve made a few changes to the starting line-up this weekend which gives opportunities to the players coming in. We need to be accurate and keep our discipline.

“This is a massive game, not only because of the history and what it means to everyone in Wales. But it’s an opportunity to get things on track a bit more. England are in a rebuilding phase. We’ll go there with a lot of confidence we can build on that second-half and belief.”

Wales team to face England

Wales: 15 Cameron Winnett, 14 Josh Adams, 13 George North, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Ioan Lloyd, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Alex Mann, 5 Adam Beard, 4 Dafydd Jenkins (c), 3 Keiron Assiratti, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Gareth Thomas
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Corey Domachowski, 18 Archie Griffin, 19 Will Rowlands, 20 Taine Basham, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Cai Evans, 23 Mason Grady

Date: Saturday, February 10
Venue: Twickenham Stadium
Kick-off: 16:45 GMT
Referee: James Doleman (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand), Hollie Davidson (Scotland)
TMO: Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand)

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