Warren Gatland has denied his team selection is a changing of the guard after omitting Justin Tipuric and Alun Wyn Jones from Wales' trip to face Scotland in the Six Nations.
Gatland has wielded the axe after Wales were comprehensively beaten by Ireland in their Six Nations opener last Saturday, with five personnel changes.
The New Zealander has gone for youth with Exeter Chiefs pair Dafydd Jenkins and Christ Tshiunza parachuted into the starting XV along with Leicester's Tommy Reffell. Taulupe Faletau, meanwhile, is named on the bench with Jac Morgan starting at No. 8.
"I don’t think so," said Gatland when asked whether this was a changing of the guard. "I just think we need to think about what’s important in this tournament. We lost that first game so we can’t win the Grand Slam or the Triple Crown.
"We still want to do well in this tournament and Saturday’s game is important for us. But we need to think long-term as well in the next seven or eight months.
"We’ve got a huge disparity between those experienced players with the number of caps they’ve got and a lot of incredibly talented youngsters with a limited number of caps. We just need to find that balance."
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Jones and Tipuric are the biggest casualties, with the Ospreys pair boasting 342 international caps between them. But Gatland insists the door has not been shut closed on the squad's elder statesmen like Jones and Tipuric.
"Absolutely," was Gatland's response when asked if there was a way back for Jones and Tipuric. "In fairness, they’ve been brilliant. We’ve had those conversations and explained it to the squad in terms of our rationale and thinking. They understand it.
"We know what they can do but some of these youngsters, we don’t know what their potential is or how they are going to handle international rugby. Rhys Davies, this could be his first cap for Wales. That’s our thinking, getting that balance and giving that group of players a chance, who will be excited about it, without too many wholesale changes."
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