Wayne Pivac has named his side to face Ireland this weekend.
Wales kick off their Six Nations title defence without a number of senior figures, with Josh Adams moved into a starting role in midfield for the first time and Ospreys hooker Dewi Lake set for a debut off the bench in Dublin.
After naming his team to take on Ireland, here's everything Pivac had to say...
The starting XV to face Ireland contains 13 players who also started against Australia. Is there an element of continuity in your selection?
“Definitely. It’s a similar squad I guess with a few new boys coming in to round the squad out.
"The boys have trained well in the last week or so - as well as we could expect really. So we’re in a pretty good place going into Saturday’s game.”
Talk us through the team selection you've made. What are the exciting talking points or new faces?
“One of the talking points is Josh Adams at 13 but, as you know, we named him there in the autumn to play against Fiji.
"He's trained there quite a bit and he's finished a few games there. It’s something we’re excited to have a look at.
"We wouldn’t do it unless we thought he could do a job. He's played there for Cardiff.
"There's one exciting change there. Dewi Lake coming off the bench, a debutant. It's exciting to see him go. He's been working hard to get over his foot injury and get back into the Ospreys side.
"We think he’ll make an impact when he comes on. When you look across the team, the rest of it is pretty settled in terms of what we had in the autumn.
"Really pleased we've got a back-three with a bit of pace who are firing in training. We’re in a good space, albeit in training. There's still 15 green shirts to be put in front of us."
Are you hoping Adams has same effect in midfield as George North?
“They’re different players but if he has any sort of impact like George, we'll be very pleased.
"It's a position where you need a lot of pace, not only with the ball but also without it. He’s strong in the contact area and a good defender.
"We're excited to see him go. Hopefully the conditions are such that we can move the ball around and get it into his hands in good positions on the park."
Could it be seen as a gamble to start him there?
“You could look at that way. George hadn't played there much either and he made a pretty good fist of it. It's what they're doing in training.
"It’s not like he’s had one or two training sessions. He's had a number of sessions across different campaigns going back a few months. It’s not foreign to him. He's played there for Cardiff. He’s really excited about it."
Were you tempted to start Ross Moriarty in the back-row?
“We looked at the game he had, the work he got through in that and where he's at in training. The fact he hadn’t trained the first week, he only did the introductory day so he’s a week behind the others in terms of the learning.
"A lot of work has gone in so we just think it’s the best way to do it this week."
You're defending champions but not really favourites for the title. Does that suit you?
“I guess there’s an obvious reason for that. A lot of the team that won that competition won’t be there in Dublin. But the guys who will be there, we believe will represent us really well.
"Where we are with the bookies, we're probably in the same position we were last year. We’ve everything to gain and nothing to lose. That's the attitude, going out there and expressing ourselves."
What sort of challenge are you expecting from Ireland?
“They’re very powerful, aren't they? They had a very good autumn. They built on the last Six Nations and how they finished that competition and they haven't really looked back since.
"They're moving a bit more ball than they probably have in the past which makes them a bit more dangerous. They've obviously got a power game they can use, but there's a bit more width in their game now. The defence has to be on their toes."
It's your third Six Nations with Wales. Are you looking forward to this one?
“Very much so. It's very much a different challenge again.
"There’s always something to get on top of. This week it's about gelling them together again and getting them prepared physically.
"It’s been a challenge but the boys have worked hard, both in training and in the classroom. Hopefully that pays dividends."
With the 2023 World Cup on the horizon, how do you balance results with looking to the future?
“It’s an opportunity to do both. Every Six Nations everyone wants to win, and we are no different.
“We want to go out there, and each individual wants to put their best foot forward. They know there’s a lot at stake as defending champions.
“We worked hard to get that title last year, and we’d like to be in a position to try to do that again. It means week one we’ve got to work very hard to get a result, and then back that up in week two.
“The first two weeks of this competition is critical. Obviously we’ve got an eye at what’s coming up in about 18 months’ time.
“Where there are injuries, and big names missing it’s an opportunity for others. We’ve got a squad to pick shortly to go to the World Cup so that’s going to help massively in that preparation.”
After the announcement of new measures regarding drinking in the stadium, what's your message to supporters?
“The incident we are talking about against South Africa was when Liam Williams thought he had a pretty good chance of scoring a try. It’s what might have been.
“Incidents like that; we just want people to enjoy the game. For everyone to enjoy the game we can’t have the odd idiot.
“That just spoils it for everyone. Get there nice and early, have some fun, but enjoy yourselves in the right way.
“We’ll hopefully in the home games give you something to watch, and entertain you. We’ll all play our part hopefully.”
You've been able to pick both Liam Williams and Johnny McNicholl in the back-three. Was there ever the temptation to pick Williams on the wing and McNicholl at full-back?
“No. We think for this particular game it’s the way we want to play.
“We looked at a number of factors but they are both very skilful players, good under the high ball, and they both love to attack ball in hand.
“You could go either way on a different occasion, but certainly that’s the way we’ve all agreed we want to go this week.”
Talk us through the selection of Nick Tompkins in midfield. There's no place for Jonathan Davies?
“Willis ran out of time and couldn’t quite tick all the boxes. We’ll try to get him where he needs to be for next week.
“In terms of Jonathan and Nick we just feel Nick is the form midfielder at the moment. Week in week out he’s been playing club rugby in good form, and he’s match fit ready to go.
“Jon unfortunately has only had two games since the South African game. He’s worked really hard in training, and has improved as each training has gone on in terms of sharpness.
“He’s working really hard to get himself in the picture further down the track. Certainly for this game Nick and Josh are the form guys that we want to take into the game.”
This is perhaps the longest run Tomos Williams has had in the scrum-half jersey during his whole Wales career. Is he now the first-choice 9?
“We’ve probably thought that for a little while but injuries have prevented us from running certain combinations. The nines have been juggled around a little bit.
“Kieran Hardy had a good game against England last year then pulled a hamstring so he may have got a run of games. It’s just been one of those things where nobody has been injury free throughout so he has had that run of games now.
“He’s benefited from that, and I think he’ll get better and better with more game time.”
Obviously there's no Ross Moriarty in the starting XV - has this back-row got the right balance to compete at the breakdown?
“We certainly know that Ellis is very good at the breakdown. He’s very good at reading situations and picking his moments, and when he does he has pretty good results.
“Taine is full of energy, and he’s good both sides of the ball, and he’s working hard in terms of developing his game.
“We’ve got a really good athlete with good footwork, power, and pace in Aaron who is also a very good lineout forward. To start the game we think that’s the way we’ll get the benefit out of them.
“With Ross he’s just short of a gallop or two. He’ll come on and hopefully make a big impact because he’s a very physical player, and we are going to need to match them physically.”
Do you lose something with attacking clearouts by not having Moriarty in the side?
“They are all slightly different aren’t they? What one brings the other one might bring something else slightly different.
“Across the 80 minutes we are going to need it all, and it’s going to come down to Ross with the amount of rugby he’s had we think this is the best way to select him for this particular game.”
Will Josh Adams move into midfield allow him to show his leadership skills more?
“Yes, and that’s a great observation. Just in training today we’ve completed a lot of talk, and at 13 the tens want a lot of chat.
“They want a lot of talk from the outside in, and he’s doing that. He’s also very good at marshalling the boys if they need to be prodded a little bit in terms of speed around the park.
“He’s been very good in training, and we want him to do that in a game. Leadership is certainly growing on him.”
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