Teams
Wayne Pivac has kept faith with George North, despite the Osprey experiencing ever dwindling form of late, and also Nick Tompkins, the Saracen whose second cap vs Ireland proved far more difficult that his cameo from the bench vs Italy in round one. Today he’s up against Vakatawa – welcome to the big park, kid.
But it’s not all stability. Gareth Davies is back in at scrum-half and most surprising is Aaron Wainwright giving way at six to Ross Moriarty. Wainwright had his first middling to poor game vs Ireland and he has played a huge amount of rugby since his breakthrough. Let’s hope this is more about looking after him rather than punishing him for one below average performance.
Will Rowlands, who only recently plumped for Wales as his national side, makes the bench.
France are without Vincent Rattez, something of a revelation on the wing this tournament, and Galthie has opted to push Gael Fickou out to the wing and bring Arthur Vincent into the 12 shirt. Interesting one, is that. Fickou appears to the defensive captain for the new France, and it may be a risk to lose him from midfield. I would certainly see that as more of risk that starting with Ramos on the wing, which was the alternative available. But, I sit here writing inconsequential opinions about international sport rather than making actual decisions, so I’m best leaving it to Fabien.
Wales: 15-Leigh Halfpenny, 14-George North, 13-Nick Tompkins, 12-Hadleigh Parkes, 11-Josh Adams, 10-Dan Biggar, 9-Gareth Davies; 1-Wyn Jones. 2-Ken Owens, 3-Dillon Lewis, 4-Jake Ball, 5-Alun Wyn Jones (captain), 6-Ross Moriarty, 7-Justin Tipuric, 8-Taulupe Faletau
Replacements: 16-Ryan Elias, 17-Rob Evans, 18-Leon Brown, 19-Will Rowlands, 20-Aaron Wainwright, 21-Tomos Williams, 22-Jarrod Evans, 23-Johnny McNicholl
France: 15-Anthony Bouthier, 14-Teddy Thomas, 13-Virimi Vakatawa, 12-Arthur Vincent, 11-Gael Fickou, 10-Romain Ntamack, 9-Antoine Dupont; 1-Cyril Baille, 2-Julien Marchand, 3-Mohamed Haouas, 4-Bernard Le Roux, 5-Paul Willemse, 6-Francois Cros, 7-Charles Ollivon (captain), 8-Gregory Alldritt
Replacements: 16-Camille Chat, 17-Jean-Baptiste Gros, 18-Demba Bamba, 19-Romain Taofifenua, 20-Dylan Cretin, 21-Baptiste Serin, 22-Mathieu Jalibert, 23-Thomas Ramos