No 8 Olly Cracknell is set for his Six Nations debut as Steve Tandy makes four changes to his Wales team to face France in Cardiff.
Cracknell’s inclusion means a reshuffle to the back row that began the heavy defeat to England, with Aaron Wainwright moving to the blindside and Alex Mann wearing the seven shirt.
Tandy swaps props with Rhys Carre and Tomas Francis promoted from the bench as Nicky Smith and Archie Griffin take replacement roles, while Joe Hawkins is preferred to Ben Thomas at inside centre, and will partner clubmate Eddie James.
Wales face another daunting challenge as they welcome the tournament favourites to the Principality Stadium, having conceded an average of nearly 58 points across their last three outings.
“There are a few changes for this week,” Tandy explained. “A lot of it is based on who we are playing and then Olly Cracknell has done a full training week this week and also played really well in the autumn.
“We were bitterly disappointed with the performance last week. We've addressed it in meetings. The boys were open and honest around the fact that we didn't put ourselves on the game. We felt we played into England's hands a little bit and obviously the discipline was hugely disappointing. It's a massive lesson for us. It's something we need to correct and put more of our game out on the field on Sunday.”
Empty seats are likely at the Principality Stadium despite the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) reportedly giving tickets away in the lead-up to the game.
Wales XV to face France in Cardiff (Sunday 15 February, 3.10pm GMT): 1 Rhys Carre, 2 Dewi Lake (capt.), 3 Tomas Francis; 4 Dafydd Jenkins, 5 Adam Beard; 6 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Alex Mann, 8 Olly Cracknell; 9 Tomos Williams, 10 Dan Edwards; 11 Josh Adams, 12 Joe Hawkins, 13 Eddie James, 14 Ellis Mee; 15 Louis Rees-Zammit.
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Archie Griffin, 19 Ben Carter, 20 Taine Plumtree; 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Mason Grady
