Six Nations 2018: Dan Biggar, Liam Williams and Leigh Halfpenny in Wales team
- From the section Welsh Rugby
| Six Nations: Ireland v Wales |
|---|
| Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin Date: Saturday, 24 February Kick-off: 14:15 GMT |
| Coverage: Live on S4C, BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru & BBC Sport website and BBC Sport app, plus live text commentary |
Dan Biggar will start at fly-half for Wales in the Six Nations match against Ireland with Liam Williams and Leigh Halfpenny also returning after injury.
George North is on the bench with Gareth Anscombe dropping to the replacements, while Rhys Patchell and Josh Adams miss out altogether.
There is also no place in the match squad for number eight Taulupe Faletau, who will instead play for Bath.
Biggar and Williams have not played in this year's tournament.
In all the team shows three changes from the 12-6 defeat by England at Twickenham.
Faletau, who has not played since December, has been released back to his club Bath to play against Sale on Saturday.
Coach Warren Gatland wants the British and Irish Lion back row to play before he considers him for selection.
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Good selection debate
Biggar has made a quicker than expected return from a shoulder injury which ruled him out of the first two rounds of matches, while Williams' return on the wing comes after he scored a try for Saracens in their win over Sale on Friday.
"It is great to be able to bring so much experience back into the starting XV and into the backline," said Gatland, who will take charge of Wales for the 100th time.
"Dan has a lot of experience and he's taken a full part in training and he's been working pretty hard over the last couple of weeks to get himself back into contention.
"We just felt it was the right time to bring him back in.
"We had a good debate about the back three and the backs - whether it was Dan Biggar at 10 or George North on the bench.
"We felt Toby (Faletau) needed a couple of games under his belt for Bath before he came into consideration, so they're horses for courses in terms of the players and experience."
Wales team: Halfpenny (Scarlets); L Williams (Saracens), S Williams (Scarlets), Parkes (Scarlets), S Evans (Scarlets); Biggar (Ospreys), G Davies (Scarlets); R Evans (Scarlets), Owens (Scarlets), Lee (Scarlets), Hill (Dragons), AW Jones (Ospreys capt), Shingler (Scarlets), Navidi (Cardiff Blues), Moriarty (Gloucester).
Replacements: Dee (Dragons), W Jones (Scarlets), Francis (Exeter Chiefs), B Davies (Ospreys), Tipuric (Ospreys), A Davies (Scarlets), Anscombe (Blues), North (Northampton).
