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Gatland names Wales team for France
By Harry West
Warren Gatland has recalled Alun Wyn Jones to lead Wales as one of seven changes for their final Six Nations outing at home to France on Saturday.
The head coach made 10 alterations to face Italy last time out and has rotated his options once again for the clash in Cardiff.
Dan Biggar comes in for Gareth Anscombe at fly-half, while Jones replaces Bradley Davies at lock. Rob Evans and Ken Owens take over from Nicky Smith and Elliot Dee in the front row and flanker Josh Navidi is given the nod instead of James Davies.
In the backs, Leigh Halfpenny returns at 15 as Liam Williams switches to the wing to take Steff Evans' spot, and Scott Williams is preferred to Owen Watkin in the centres.
A bonus-point win for Wales would secure second place for Gatland's men, who have recorded victories over Scotland and Italy either side of defeats to England and Ireland.
"Saturday is a huge opportunity for us to finish the campaign well, at home in front of our fans," said Gatland.
"France will be coming to Cardiff in good spirits after their victory over England last weekend so it is set to be a huge encounter.
"There have been some tough selection calls, but that is exactly what we want, we want to be in a position where there are selections and decisions to be made and we have had to make some tough ones this weekend.
"We have picked a team and a squad we believe can deliver this weekend against France."
Wales team: Leigh Halfpenny, George North, Scott Williams, Hadleigh Parkes, Liam Williams, Dan Biggar, Gareth Davies; Rob Evans, Ken Owens, Tomas Francis, Cory Hill, Alun Wyn Jones (captain), Justin Tipuric, Josh Navidi, Taulupe Faletau.
Substitutes: Elliot Dee, Nicky Smiths, Samson Lee, Bradley Davies, Aaron Shingler, Aled Davies, Gareth Anscombe, Steff Evans.
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Even with absences we still had the cattle to make the playoffs. As it was, we nearly stumbled our way into the top 8. Which shows just how easy it was to get there. And still we failed. As for Razor, there are many instances of him patching up the Crusaders roster. Numerous. Several players Id never heard of. Also, using AB legend John Afoa was a classic.
But, some of the games we were losing were from schoolboy errors, or downright confusion. Either the players were really dumb (they weren’t) or they were poorly coached. Given the repetitive nature of errors, brain fades, poor decision making, & loose structures, this all lands with the coaching group.
With only six playoff spots now in SR, & Aussie franchises now consolidated to four, 2025 looks like a tight one. We'll have to tough it out under Penney & hope for the best.
Go to commentsAgree we need a 10, 12, 13 refresh. ASAP. Well, next season now lol. Reiko should be put back on the wing. He'll be an absolute menace there. Imagine 11 Reiko 14 Clarke 15 Jordan as the backfield unit.
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