Warren Gatland includes two uncapped players in his 23-player Wales line-up to face Scotland in Cardiff for their Six Nations opener on Saturday (4.45pm kick off) in starting full-back Cameron Winnett and replacement back-row Alex Mann; a further five players could make Six Nations debuts
Saturday 3 February 2024 07:31, UK
Cardiff's 21-year-old full-back Cameron Winnett has been named to start for his Wales Test debut vs Scotland in the Six Nations on Saturday.
Head coach Warren Gatland, who has opted for a very youthful selection, suffered a further injury blow this week when centre George North (shoulder) was ruled out, leaving Owen Watkin and Nick Tompkins to start in midfield.
Watkin's return sees him make a first start for Wales since November 2022, while James Botham - grandson of former England cricketer Ian Botham - returns in the back-row for the first time in over two years.
In addition to Winnett - who starts having only played 15 games of professional rugby at club level - there is a further uncapped player in the squad, as Cardiff back-row Alex Mann is named among the replacements.
A further two Wales starters will make their Six Nations debuts in fly-half Sam Costelow - who replaces the retired Dan Biggar - and loosehead prop Corey Domachowski.
Three more players could make their championship debuts off the bench too in props Kemsley Mathias and Keiron Assiratti, and lock Teddy Williams.
Exeter lock Dafydd Jenkins, 21, captains the side and is partnered by Adam Beard, while hooker Ryan Elias and tighthead Leon Brown form the front-row alongside Domachowski.
Openside Tommy Reffell and No 8 Aaron Wainwright complete the back-row with Botham, while experienced scrum-half Gareth Davies partners Costelow at half-back.
Wings Josh Adams and Rio Dyer form the back-three unit with Winnett.
"Cameron Winnett is just a lovely footballer and I think he's going to develop into a quality international player in the future," Gatland said.
"He's young and there'll be no pressure on him. We've been impressed with the way that he's trained. He's done really well in training, progressed really well and following consultation with his surgeon everyone was happy for him to be selected.
"It's also great that Alex Mann is on the bench and will hopefully get his debut as well.
"We've got some players who were involved in the World Cup so have some experience and then some exciting youngsters and when I look at that forward pack, it's not a small forward pack. It's a big forward pack.
"Scotland haven't won here in a long, long time and it's an opportunity for us to continue with that record.
"The roof's going to be open, Scotland want the roof open which I think is a little bit disappointing from an atmosphere point of view, because when that roof is shut it does tend to create a lot more atmosphere and noise in the stadium. But that's the decision that they made."
On the absences of North and lock Will Rowlands, Gatland added: "George got quite a big stinger in terms of his shoulder and didn't take part in full training last week so Owen Watkin comes into the midfield.
"Will hasn't come into the squad yet. His wife had a baby a couple of weeks ago in France and unfortunately there were some complications. So the message to him has been you stay home and be with your family. We always talk about how important that is and he'll turn up when he's ready."
Further replacements Elliot Dee (hooker), Tomos Williams (scrum-half), Ioan Lloyd (fly-half) and Mason Grady (utility back) complete the squad.
Kyle Rowe will start at full-back for Scotland in Cardiff after Blair Kinghorn was ruled out due to a knee injury.
Kinghorn is set to miss both Scotland's opening match of the Six Nations and the visit of France to Murrayfield on Saturday, February 10 due to the injury.
It means England-born Rowe will win only his second cap for Scotland after been named to start at No 15, having won his only Test cap as a replacement against Argentina in 2022 - a game he lasted just 12 minutes in before going off injured.
Recently-appointed co-captain Rory Darge has been ruled out as well, although is expected to be available to face France, which means fly-half Finn Russell leads the team on his own against Wales.
Previous skipper Jamie Ritchie, who lost the role last month, has been named in the back row, and Ben White starts ahead of Ali Price at scrum-half.
Props Elliot Millar-Mills and Alex Hepburn are both in line to make their debuts off the bench, with Jack Dempsey, who lined up at No 8 in last year's Rugby World Cup, also named among the replacements.
Wales: 15 Cameron Winnett, 14 Josh Adams, 13 Owen Watkin, 12 Nick Tompkins 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Sam Costelow 9 Gareth Davies; 1 Corey Domachowski, 2 Ryan Elias, 3 Leon Brown, 4 Adam Beard, 5 Dafydd Jenkins (c), 6 James Botham, 7 Tommy Reffell, 8 Aaron Wainwright.
Replacements: 16 Elliot Dee, 17 Kemsley Mathias, 18 Keiron Assiratti, 19 Teddy Williams, 20 Alex Mann, 21 Tomos Williams, 22 Ioan Lloyd 23 Mason Grady.
Scotland: 15 Kyle Rowe, 14 Kyle Steyn, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell (c), 9 Ben White; 1 Pierre Schoeman, 2 George Turner, 3 Zander Fagerson, 4 Richie Gray, 5 Scott Cummings, 6 Luke Crosbie, 7 Jamie Ritchie, 8 Matt Fagerson.
Replacements: 16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Elliot Millar-Mills, 19 Sam Skinner, 20 Jack Dempsey, 21 George Horne, 22 Ben Healy, 23 Cameron Redpath.
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