Wayne Pivac has made two personnel changes to his starting side to face England in the Six Nations on Saturday.
Flying winger Louis Rees-Zammit has lost his spot after a quiet opening two rounds and No.8 Taulupe Faletau is straight back in at No.8 after being called up to the squad on Monday.
Faletau has played just two games since the 2021 Lions tour but Pivac is confident he's ready to go.
Here's everything the Wales boss had to say ahead of the Twickenham showdown.
Question: Can you talk about the Louis Rees-Zammit decision?
Wayne Pivac: Everybody wants to be selected and is working pretty hard. For us, with this particular match, looking at the opposition and the way we think the game will be played, I think the experience of the other two, work-rate off the ball and those sorts of things, are really going to come into play.
It’s a tough call on Louis but one that we think is the right call.
Q: How’s he taken it?
WP: He’s no different to any other player. He’s disappointed, obviously.
He’ll be frustrated but I think if you look back to the first Six Nations, he didn’t get any game time, he went away, listened to what the coaches had passed on, work hard and then had a very successful Six Nations last year.
We expect him to go and work hard on his game and come back stronger than he is.
Q: What specifically are you hoping for him to improve on?
WP: There are a few things that we’ve spoken to him about and also George Skivington, his Gloucester coach.
He knows what it is and he’ll work very hard.
Q: Thoughts on Taulupe Faletau returning and what he brings to the team?
WP: He has a lot of experience, which is going to be required, and he’s also had a couple of games under his belt now, with 80 minutes last week.
He’s trained very well during the week. He brings the good footwork in the contact area and he’s a very knowledgeable player in the game.
He’s slotted in very quickly. We’re starting him and we’ll see how long he goes for.”
Q: How excited are you to have him back?
WP: He’s not far off 90 caps, he’s a British and Irish Lion. He brings a wealth of experience.
He’s a very well liked member of the squad and he lifts those around him. So we’re very pleased.
Q: Thoughts on Josh Adams being back and returning to the wing?
WP: He’s chomping at the bit. He’s had a couple of weeks on the sidelines, so getting back is important for him.
He brings a lot of energy in the training sessions and a lot of energy in the game. He’s a good voice so we’re looking forward to seeing him out there.
Q: Talk us through the bench – particularly Brown, Hardy and Anscombe?
WP: Leon Brown, you’ll recall, has played in the last couple of Six Nations matches against England and scrummaged very well.
He’s trained well, it was always in our mind to give all the tight-heads a go in the first half of the competition. He’s trained well during the week and we’ll see how he goes.
Kieran Hardy comes in. He played very well from the start against England in the last Six Nations, so it’s a big test for him, away from him and in front of a big crowd.
We’ll learn a lot about Kieran.
Q: And what about Gareth Anscombe?
WP: He’s come a long way, he’s trained very hard and he’s improving with every training session.
It’s about cover as well. He gives us cover at 15, which is a big part of that selection.
Q: Wales haven’t won a Six Nations match at Twickenham since 2012, what's the enormity of the task on Saturday?
WP: Every team loves playing at home and it’s their first game at home in this tournament. They’ll enjoy being back there and they’ll have the home support.
We know how much it means to our side playing at the Principality. It’s something we’ve talked about.
We need to transfer the performance we had in front of our own supporters away at Twickenham.
That’s the big challenge in front of us. Playing in front of a full house, whether it’s home or away, is an exciting prospect.
Q: Eddie Jones says Principality Stadium is in his top three most hostile grounds, do you feel the same about Twickenham?
WP: I’ve only been there once as Wales coach. It’s a magnificent stadium, it’s a massive crowd with over 80,000.
It just adds to the flavour of the match. History would show it’s a hard place to go and get a result but we’re certainly going there with that aim in mind.
Q: We know what this fixture means to the fans but what does it mean to you?
WP: You’ve just got to walk down the street, when we are allowed out, and everyone is talking about it. This is the game they want Wales to win.
We know it means a lot to the public and we know it means a lot to the players. It’s a big match that everyone looks forward to each year.
It’s an exciting time of the competition for us. Roll on Saturday and we’ll see how it goes.
Q: Alex Cuthbert’s winning his 50th cap, which seemed unlikely a few years ago, what has he done to turn it around?
WP: I’m really chuffed for Alex. He’s worked very hard, he’s come back from some pretty big injuries over the years.
He had excellent form in his last year in England and he’s come back and worked very hard in our environment.
He has a massive work-rate and that’s certainly helping him at the moment.
To get 50 caps is a massive achievement and we’re pleased he’s been able to reach that milestone in such a big game.
Q: Eddie Jones says Louis Rees-Zammit isn't fit?
WP: Has Eddie got spies in our training sessions maybe?
He did pick up an ankle injury in the Irish warm-up and that probably hasn’t been at 100%, certainly that’s factored in. But we’ve gone with experience, we’ve gone with a bit of extra work rate across the park without the ball as well as with the ball.
Louis is disappointed – he’ll go away and work hard on his game and he’ll be back I’m sure.
Q: Were you tempted to start Jonathan Davies with Manu Tuilagi always likely to be involved?
WP: We looked at all the different combinations and what we thought would work the best. At some stage we need to start settling on some combinations and the boys went reasonably well last week.
There’s always things they want to work on in their game and things we want them to work on, and certainly the centre pairing went well, but they know this is a step up.
I thought Jonathan did well when he came on and brought that experience, and we’ll look to do the same this time.
Q: Where are you looking for improvements?
WP: The big challenge for us is to have that same attitude and the same willingness to throw ourselves around the park like we did last week in front of 70,000-odd mainly Wales fans, to do that on the road in a hostile environment with mainly English supporters.
That’s one of the big challenges we’ve talked about during the week, is being able to compete with the English pack, which is a big pack, and making sure we’re disciplined and don’t give them too many inroads with their lineout and obviously they’ve got a pretty good scrum.
It’s a big challenge for us up front and we need to back that up across the whole 15.
Q: England have gone with Smith and Randall at half-back, are you expecting them to play with a quicker tempo?
WP: It’s certainly what’s been talked about, Eddie wanting to play at speed. If you look at it, history shows they’ve started their Test matches well and we’re probably on the other side of things, starting slowly and conceding points.
It’s an area where we need to start well, don’t let England get into their stride too early but that’s easier said than done.
Q: Better weather is forecast for the weekend, do you think that might lift the tempo of the game?
WP: I don’t think the tempo will change. I think we’re prepared for what we think is coming and we’ve got to make sure we look after the ball.
The team who make fewest mistakes in these big Test matches and are disciplined usually have a good opportunity of winning the match.
We’ve got to be clinical in everything we do and, when we do get scoring opportunities, we’ve got to be pretty ruthless.
Q: You've left out the likes of George North, Adam Beard and Owen Watkin in the past and they've reacted well - Louis is a lot younger than them but are you hoping for the same?
WP: They’re very good examples for any young player to see, and it’s not only those you mentioned.
We’ve had a lot of senior players out with serious injuries who’ve battled hard to come back against the odds. It’s a challenge for any player – it’s how you react to these situations.
Louis, after being disappointed like any player would be, is in a good environment where he’s got a very good club coach, who we’ve had a good conversation with.
He will pass on the words and encouragement that are required and I’m sure Louis will come back bigger, better and stronger.
Q: What improvements has Anscombe made in the last three weeks that convinced you to bring him in now?
WP: Certainly the decision-making is improving and that comes with time. He’s been out for a couple of years and we’re definitely seeing improvements there.
He’s still got areas of his game he needs to work on and he knows that, he’s working hard at it as all players do.
There’s not the perfect performance week in week out so that’s what players are striving for. He gives us that cover at full-back as well as 10.
Q: Alex Cuthbert’s partner gave birth on Wednesday, so it's been a pretty hectic 24 hours for him?
WP: We’re pretty focused on the rugby to be honest but I am aware that is the case.
It’s been a big week for him and it’s going to continue to be an even bigger week come Saturday.
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