Wales mix things up for final World Cup warm-up

LONDON (Reuters) - Wales coach Warren Gatland has mixed up his team for their final World Cup warm up against Italy in Cardiff on Saturday, with Sam Warburton returning to captain the side as part of a new-look back row.

Wales mix things up for final World Cup warm-up

(Reuters)





Warburton, who sat out last week's victory over Ireland in Dublin with a shoulder injury, is back at number seven alongside James King and number eight Taulupe Faletau.

Jake Ball and Dominic Day start in the second row, with the front row of Gethin Jenkins, Ken Owens and Tomas Francis unchanged from Dublin.

Halfbacks Rhys Webb and Dan Biggar continue their partnership while there is a new look midfield with Scott Williams lining up alongside Cory Allen.  The back-three from Dublin also remains unchanged with George North and Alex Cuthbert on the wings and Leigh Halfpenny at fullback.

"With our opening Rugby World Cup fixture just two weeks away, this weekend is an important run-out and an opportunity for fine tuning, said Gatland.

"We were happy with the performance away from home in Ireland last weekend, but there are plenty of things we need to work on from that victory so we will be looking to put those in place on Saturday.

"We've made a couple of changes to try a few new combinations and ensure players get some more game time under their belts."

Wales kick off their World Cup campaign against Uruguay in Cardiff on Sept. 20.

Wales team:

15-Leigh Halfpenny (Toulon), 14-Alex Cuthbert (Cardiff Blues), 13-Cory Allen (Cardiff Blues), 12-Scott Williams (Scarlets), 11-George North (Northampton), 10-Dan Biggar (Ospreys), 9-Rhys Webb (Ospreys); 8-Taulupe Faletau (Newport Gwent Dragons).7-Sam Warburton (Cardiff Blues, captain), 6-James King (Ospreys), 5-Dominic Day (Bath), 4-Jake Ball (Scarlets), 3-Tomas Francis (Exeter Chiefs), 2-Ken Owens (Scarlets), 1-Gethin Jenkins (Cardiff Blues).

Replacements: 16-Kristian Dacey (Cardiff Blues), 17-Paul James (Ospreys), 18-Aaron Jarvis (Ospreys), 19-Luke Charteris (Racing Metro), 20-Ross Moriarty (Gloucester), 21-Gareth Davies (Scarlets), 22-Rhys Priestland (Bath), 23Matthew Morgan (Bristol).





(Editing by: Ossian Shine)


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