Wayne Pivac has made three personnel changes and three positional switches to the side which was hammered by the All Blacks as Wales look to bounce back against Argentina in Cardiff this Saturday (5.30pm kick-off).
As expected, Louis Rees-Zammit shifts to full-back to make his first international appearance in the position, with wing Alex Cuthbert set for his first appearance since July after overcoming injury. Gareth Anscombe is set to start at fly-half, having been named at 10 last weekend only to switch to full-back to accommodate Rhys Priestland following Leigh Halfpenny's withdrawal.
In the pack, Dillon Lewis replaces Tomas Francis at tight-head, while Dan Lydiate is back in the Welsh back-row after Tommy Reffell was ruled out after a bang to his ribs. Lydiate's return on the blindside, where he started in all three of Wales' Tests in South Africa in July, allows captain Justin Tipuric to revert to his natural openside position.
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Otherwise, it's the same as the side which ran out against the All Blacks, with Rio Dyer handed a second cap after his try-scoring debut on the wing last Saturday. Nick Tompkins and George North combine in the midfield for the fifth time.
However, there are changes on the bench. Priestland reverts to the bench after his late start last weekend, offering backline cover alongside Kieran Hardy and Owen Watkin. Ryan Elias is the only surviving forward replacement from last weekend, with Rhodri Jones and Sam Wainwright offering all-new front-row cover, while lock Ben Carter and back-row Jac Morgan also come in.
It is the second of Wales' autumn internationals following a disappointing 55-23 defeat to New Zealand in the curtain-raiser. The Principality Stadium roof will once again be closed, it has been confirmed.
Argentina have named an unchanged XV to the one which defeated England at Twickenham last weekend for the first time since 2006.
Wales head coach Wayne Pivac said: "Last week we had Leigh Halfpenny unavailable at the last minute and we’d trained a certain way so we went with Gareth Anscombe at full-back who’s done that before at this level. We’re back to Gareth at 10 and we have Louis Rees-Zammit at full-back. He’s trained there the entire week. He’s looked good in training and it’s something we’ve explored in the background, so it will be good information going forwards with the Six Nations around the corner and the Rugby World Cup.
"Dillon had done well in South Africa. This is probably the last opportunity to give guys starts and learn as much as we can. Both Dillon and Dan Lydiate have trained well.
"There are some changes among the replacements. There are some niggles that players pick up in games and in training, so some guys have been left out to get themselves 100% right for next week. Some boys we want to have a look at across the competition so in the case of Nicky Smith and Rhodri Jones that’s certainly what we wanted to do the first couple of games.
"We saw last week what Argentina are capable of. They’re a very big team, very strong up front. They have expanded their attacking game and they took an excellent try against England from the set play. They’ve knocked over some big scalps in the last 18 months, New Zealand being one of them. They are going to be a big challenge but one we’re looking forward to. After last week’s performance we need a reaction from our team."
Wales v Argentina will be broadcast live on Amazon Prime Video with England and Welsh commentary available, while there will also be highlights on S4C.
Wales: 15. Louis Rees-Zammit, 14. Alex Cuthbert, 13. George North, 12. Nick Tompkins, 11. Rio Dyer, 10. Gareth Anscombe, 9. Tomos Williams, 1. Gareth Thomas, 2. Ken Owens, 3. Dillon Lewis, 4. Will Rowlands, 5. Adam Beard, 6. Dan Lydiate, 7. Justin Tipuric, 8. Taulupe Faletau.
Replacements: 16. Ryan Elias, 17. Rhodri Jones, 18. Sam Wainwright, 19. Ben Carter, 20. Jac Morgan, 21. Kieran Hardy, 22. Rhys Priestland, 23. Owen Watkin.
Argentina: 15. Juan Cruz Mallia, 14. Mateo Carreras, 13. Matias Moroni, 12. Jeronimo De La Fuente, 11. Emiliano Boffelli, 10. Santiago Carreras, 9. Gonzalo Bertranou, 1. Thomas Gallo, 2. Julian Montoya (capt), 3. Francisco Gomez Kodela, 4. Matias Alemanno, 5. Tomas Lavanini, 6. Juan Martin Gonzalez, 7. Marcos Kremer, 8. Pablo Matera.
Replacements: 16. Ignacio Ruiz, 17. Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 18. Eduardo Bello, 19. Lucas Paulos, 20. Facundo Isa, 21. Elisio Morales, 22. Tomas Albornoz, 23. Matias Orlando.
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