Wales pick George North at centre for Italy clash

Adam Kyriacou
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Wales head coach Wayne Pivac has announced his side to take on Italy in their final Autumn Nations Cup fixture at Parc y Scarlets on Saturday.

Nicky Smith, Sam Parry and Tomas Francis comprise the front-row, with Parry making his first start for Wales after three appearances from the bench.

Will Rowlands partners Alun Wyn Jones in the second-row with James Botham lining up alongside British & Irish Lions duo Justin Tipuric and Taulupe Faletau in the back-row.

Kieran Hardy and Callum Sheedy start at half-back together for the second time this campaign with Johnny Williams partnering George North in the midfield. North’s last start at centre was Wales’ 42-0 victory over Italy in the Six Nations earlier this year.

Louis Rees-Zammit, Josh Adams and Liam Williams comprise the back-three.

Giving players opportunities

“Saturday is another opportunity for these players and for us as a squad it is another opportunity to continue to build and to see the results of all the hard work in training,” said head coach Pivac.

“We have blooded eight new caps this campaign and importantly by the end of the match each of them would have had a number of appearances to their name.

“From the outset we wanted this campaign to be about giving players opportunity and we have done that.

“The hard work in training is coming through and we want to show that again on Saturday and finish the campaign on a high, with the performance and result we want.”

On the bench Elliot Dee, Wyn Jones and Leon Brown provide the front-row cover. Cory Hill and Aaron Wainwright complete the forward contingent. Gareth Davies, Ioan Lloyd and Jonah Holmes are named as the backline replacements.

Wales: 15 Liam Williams, 14 Josh Adams, 13 George North, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Louis Rees-Zammit, 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Kieran Hardy, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 James Botham, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 4 Will Rowlands, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Sam Parry, 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements: 16 Elliot Dee, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Leon Brown, 19 Cory Hill, 20 Aaron Wainwright, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Ioan Lloyd, 23 Jonah Holmes

Date: Saturday, December 5
Venue: Parc y Scarlets
Kick-off: 16:45 GMT
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Assistant Referees: Luke Pearce, Alex Ruiz
TMO: Pascal Gauzere

 

Internationals