Rugby World Cup 2023: Wales name five World Cup debutants for opener vs Fiji as Taulupe Faletau returns
Wales kick-off their World Cup campaign against Fiji in Pool C on Sunday in Bordeaux (8pm UK time); Taulupe Faletau has recovered from injury and returns while Dewi Lake is not included in the matchday squad and five World Cup debutants are named for the match
Thursday 7 September 2023 23:01, UK
Taulupe Faletau has recovered from injury to return to the Wales team for their first World Cup match against Fiji on Sunday, while Dewi Lake is not included in the side.
No 8 Faletau is fit to return to international action after a calf muscle problem kept him out of all of Wales' warm-up games, but he will now play for the first time since the Six Nations in their first match of the tournament.
For Sunday's vital opening game against Fiji, Warren Gatland has named five World Cup debutants in Wales' starting line-up.
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Openside flanker Jac Morgan, playing in his first World Cup, will captain the side.
Flying winger Louis Rees Zammit, Nick Tompkins, another experienced back at centre, as well as forwards Gareth Thomas and Will Rowlands will be making their first starts on rugby's biggest stage.
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Five players on the bench will also be appearing in their first World Cup but there is plenty of experience in the side.
Alongside Tompkins at centre, George North will be appearing in his fourth World Cup and both scrum-half Gareth Davies and fly-half Dan Biggar are in the tournament for the third occasion.
Fiji are coming off a historic first victory over England in their final warm-up match.
Wales coach Warren Gatland said: "The squad has worked incredibly hard over the last few months and has been preparing well for Fiji in the last couple of weeks.
"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.
"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 Lake from the match day-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, 1 Gareth Thomas, 2 Ryan Elias, 3 Tomas Francis, 4 Will Rowlands, 5 Adam Beard, 6 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Jac Morgan (c), 8 Taulupe Faletau
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
