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Debut for Adams as Wales name 10 Scarlets to face Scotland
By Jack Davies
Josh Adams will make his Test debut when Wales open their Six Nations campaign against Scotland on Saturday, while 10 Scarlets players have also made Warren Gatland's starting XV.
Worcester Warriors wing Adams - the top try scorer in the Premiership this season - is the only uncapped player in the side for the match in Cardiff, which also sees Rhys Patchell start at fly-half following injuries to Dan Biggar and Rhys Priestland.
Wales' stocks have been depleted by injury in the build-up to the tournament, with Sam Warburton, Taulupe Faletau, Liam Williams and George North also among the players unavailable to Gatland.
"The first-up game against Scotland this weekend is really important for us and this is a great chance for this group of players to get us off to a good start," said Gatland.
"We have been watching Josh closely, he is top try-scorer in the English Premiership and has been going well and we are excited for him.
"Both Rhys and Gareth [Anscombe] have been training really well over the last couple of weeks. It was a tough call between them, Rhys has started most of his games for the Scarlets at 10, we are really happy with his form and the combination with Gareth [Davies] at nine."
The Scarlets have been the form Welsh region, reaching the European Champions Cup quarter-finals with a victory over Toulon earlier this month, and Gatland was keen to tap into their success, naming an all-Scarlets front-row among the 10-strong contingent from Llanelli.
"For this opening game, we looked at a lot of combinations, especially the front-row," he added. "It is exciting to see Samson [Lee] back playing well and the familiarity of the Scarlets front-row will be important."
Wales XV: Leigh Halfpenny, Josh Adams, Scott Williams, Hadleigh Parkes, Steff Evans, Rhys Patchell, Gareth Davies; Rob Evans, Ken Owens, Samson Lee, Cory Hill, Alun Wyn Jones, Aaron Shingler, Josh Navidi, Ross Moriarty.
Replacements: Elliot Dee, Wyn Jones, Tomas Francis, Bradley Davies, Justin Tipuric, Aled Davies, Gareth Anscombe, Owen Watkin.
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It took a whole season to wash the Foster stink out to be fair. There's still been substantial change though. I think only 7 starters from the RWC QF v IRE started the IRE test in Dublin. This year wasn't the year for full innovation, transition needs to be balanced, & incremental. The new coaches will be able to stamp their full mark on the ABs from 2025 when Razor will select his first proper squad from a mega talented player pool. Exciting times ahead.
Go to commentsWhat on earth is Tele'a doing passing the ball away so quickly on his line break, like a fatty making a bust and trying to find a winger to give the ball to lol
The amount of inconsistency with the head contact law coming into the game. No red yesterday and no yellow today, but then another player gets a suspension for a side on headonhead (as apposed to these two sweet shoulders) contact last week. Happy if there is a referee change to having a bit more commensense.
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