{"id":567420,"date":"2025-11-13T10:25:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T10:25:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/567420\/"},"modified":"2025-11-13T10:25:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T10:25:12","slug":"louis-rees-zammit-one-of-4-changes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/567420\/","title":{"rendered":"Louis Rees-Zammit one of 4 changes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Louis Rees-Zammit will make his return to the Wales starting XV this weekend, with the Bristol Bears wing one of four changes to the run-on group to face Japan.<\/strong><\/p>\n

While this is only an Autumn Nations Series Test, Wales are entering must-win territory to keep their hopes of staying in the top 12 of the world rankings alive ahead of next month\u2019s Rugby World Cup draw.<\/p>\n

Wales last faced the Brave Blossoms in the summer, ending their horrific 18-Test losing run with a win in Test Two of the tour.<\/p>\n

Wales make changes as Rees-Zammit returns to starting XV<\/p>\n

Blair Murray and Josh Adams retain their places in the back-three this weekend, with Rees-Zammit displacing Tom Rogers in the number 14 shirt. Max Llewellyn and Ben Thomas also continue their midfield partnership, after being named at outside and inside centre respectively, while Dan Edwards and Tomos Williams again start in the halves.<\/p>\n

Last weekend\u2019s debutant, Olly Cracknell, is promoted to the starting XV this weekend, replacing the injured Jac Morgan<\/a>. His inclusion also prompts a back-row reshuffle, with Alex Mann moving over to openside and Aaron Wainwright slotting in at blindside. Adam Beard and Dafydd Jenkins again get the nod in the second-row.<\/p>\n

There are two changes to the starting front-row this weekend, with Nicky Smith and Archie Griffin coming into the unit alongside new captain Dewi Lake. Last weekend\u2019s starters, Rhys Carre and Keiron Assiratti, move to the bench.<\/p>\n

Liam Belcher, Freddie Thomas, Taine Plumtree, Kieran Hardy, Jarrod Evans and Nick Tompkins complete the 23.<\/p>\n

Eddie Jones\u2019 verdict on Carter Gordon\u2019s union return as Joe Schmidt gave the Wallaby a \u2018really hard task\u2019<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Commenting on his selection, head coach Steve Tandy said: \u201cThe props started the game really well and played 45 minutes. We were always planning to rotate those round after the six-day turnaround.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen there\u2019s a reshuffle in the back row: Alex Mann<\/a> goes to seven. We feel he\u2019s got all the qualities to play six or seven. Some of his attacking ability you\u2019ve seen on the weekend and his defensive energy was outstanding. Then bringing Olly Cracknell in at No. 8 and moving Aaron Wainwright to six gives us a really good balance in the back row.<\/p>\n

\u201cLouis Rees-Zammit comes in on the wing. He played a good few minutes last weekend and we feel he\u2019s ready to return to the starting line-up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019ve definitely seen lots of how we want to play against Argentina. There was lots to be pleased about \u2013 our attack I thought was excellent and I saw a lot of physicality \u2013 but there\u2019s lots to improve. So that\u2019s what we\u2019ve been focusing on. We\u2019re looking to build on the first performance into this weekend.<\/p>\n

On Dewi being appointed captain, Tandy<\/a> added: \u201cWhen you see him in and around camp, he\u2019s brilliant. He\u2019s helping individuals. He drives the team. He sets standards of how we want to train and also off the field. He\u2019s an outstanding leader and I think he\u2019ll do an amazing job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wales team in full<\/p>\n

Starting XV:<\/strong> 15 Blair Murray, 14 Louis Rees-Zammit, 13 Max Llewellyn, 12 Ben Thomas, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Dan Edwards, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Olly Cracknell, 7 Alex Mann, 6 Aaron Wainwright, 5 Adam Beard, 4 Dafydd Jenkins, 3 Archie Griffin, 2 Dewi Lake (C), 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements:<\/strong> 16 Liam Belcher, 17 Rhys Carre, 18 Keiron Assiratti, 19 Freddie Thomas, 20 Taine Plumtree, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Nick Tompkins<\/p>\n

Date:<\/b> Saturday, November 15
Venue:<\/b> Principality Stadium, Cardiff
Kick-off:<\/b> 17:40 GMT
Referee:<\/strong> Matthew Carley (RFU)
Assistant referees:<\/strong> Nic Berry (RA) and Anthony Woodthorpe (RFU)
TMO:<\/strong> Andrew Jackson (RFU)
FPRO:<\/strong> Quinton Immelman (SARU)<\/p>\n

READ MORE:\u00a0All Blacks team: Scott Robertson reacts to England\u2019s \u2018Pom Squad\u2019 in shock selections but Rieko Ioane is still snubbed<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Louis Rees-Zammit will make his return to the Wales starting XV this weekend, with the Bristol Bears wing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":567421,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4102],"tags":[225,90462,2122,12,4151,79,23125,16,15,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-567420","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-home-page","9":"tag-internationals","10":"tag-japan","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-rugby","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-steve-tandy","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115541909552884080","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/567420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=567420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/567420\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/567421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=567420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=567420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=567420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}