Wales bolstered by Taulupe Faletau return for Rugby World Cup opener against Fiji

Adam Kyriacou 07 Sep 2023 2:36 PM

Wales have named their team that will face Fiji in their opening Rugby World Cup game, with Taulupe Faletau returning to the side for the clash in Bordeaux.

Faletau is back in the number eight jersey and will win his 101st cap for his country on Sunday, with Aaron Wainwright and captain Jac Morgan alongside in the back-row.

The starting XV includes five players making their World Cup debuts. A further five players are in line to make their first World Cup appearance via the bench.

Strong midfield

In the midfield, George North is set to make his 17th Rugby World Cup appearance in his fourth tournament and will be partnered by inside centre Nick Tompkins.

Gareth Davies is selected at scrum-half and Dan Biggar at fly-half. Both are featuring in their third global tournament. Davies has played a part in each of Wales’ last 12 World Cup games in the 2015 and 2019 competitions, with Biggar on the cusp of reaching 100 points scored at World Cups (currently 97 points).

In the Wales back three, Liam Williams starts at full-back, the eighth Rugby World Cup match he will have featured in. Josh Adams, who was the leading try-scorer in the 2019 tournament in Japan with seven, including a hat-trick against Fiji, and the excitement machine Louis Rees-Zammit make up the wing spots.

Gareth Thomas starts at loosehead prop, while Ryan Elias, featuring in his second tournament, is at hooker. Tomas Francis, in his 11th World Cup match, wears three.

Elsewhere in the starting line-up, Will Rowlands and Adam Beard pair up in the second-row.

Among the replacements, Tomos Williams, Sam Costelow and Rio Dyer provide the backline cover.

Elliot Dee, Corey Domachowski and Dillon Lewis are the Wales front-row cover, Dafydd Jenkins, the youngest player in the Wales squad for the tournament, is the second-row cover, and Tommy Reffell is the final forward replacement.

“The squad has worked incredibly hard over the last few months and has been preparing well for Fiji in the last couple of weeks,” said head coach Warren Gatland.

“Fiji are a good side with some great individual athletes, and they play with a lot more structure now than maybe they have done traditionally.

“We’ve had some good clarity about what we want to achieve and the way we want to play on the weekend. It’s going to be an exciting contest on Sunday and one that we are relishing.

Looking sharp

“The boys are looking sharp; there’s a great environment in this group – players working for each other, enjoying each other’s company. We’re in a good place and can’t wait to get out there and get our Rugby World Cup 2023 campaign underway.”

On the absence of co-captain Dewi Lake from the matchday 23, Gatland added: “The medical team has done a fantastic job getting Dewi back to full fitness. He’s not had as much training under his belt as the other hookers since he picked up that knock to his knee, so Ryan Elias and Elliot Dee are selected for us for this game.”

Wales: 15 Liam Williams, 14 Louis Rees-Zammit, 13 George North, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Jac Morgan (c), 6 Aaron Wainwright, 5 Adam Beard, 4 Will Rowlands, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Ryan Elias, 1 Gareth Thomas
Replacements: 16 Elliot Dee, 17 Corey Domachowski, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Dafydd Jenkins, 20 Tommy Reffell, 21 Tomos Williams, 22 Sam Costelow, 23 Rio Dyer

Date: Sunday, September 10
Venue: Stade de Bordeaux
Kick-off: 21:00 local (20:00 BST, 19:00 GMT)
Referee: Matthew Carley (RFU)
Assistant Referees: Wayne Barnes (RFU), Christophe Ridley (RFU)
TMO: Brian MacNeice (IRFU)

Fiji Taulupe Faletau