Wales team: Steve Tandy rewards ‘cohesion and consistency’ for Italy clash in bid to end Six Nations losing streak
Wales full-back Blair Murray and head coach Steve Tandy (inset).
Wales head coach Steve Tandy has named an unchanged starting line-up for their Six Nations encounter against Italy at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday.
Despite being winless in this year’s Championship and losing their last 15 matches in the Six Nations, Tandy has kept the faith with the same players who suffered a 27-17 defeat to Ireland in their Round Four clash at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin last week.
That means hooker Dewi Lake continues to captain the side and he is joined in the starting front-row by props Rhys Carre and Tomas Francis while Dafydd Jenkins and Ben Carter continue in the second-row.
Meanwhile, Leicester Tigers-bound back-rower Aaron Wainwright is named at number eight again while the pack is completed by James Botham and Alex Mann, who are the starting flankers.
In the backline, Bristol Bears flyer Louis Rees-Zammit continues at full-back while Ellis Mee and Josh Adams start on the wings with Eddie James and Joe Hawkins retaining their spots as the centre combination.
The backline is completed by experienced scrum-half Tomos Williams who forms a half-back partnership with Ospreys playmaker Dan Edwards.
Blair Murray back in the matchday squad
On the replacements bench, Tandy has made just one alteration with Blair Murray taking over from Louie Hennessey as one of the backline reserves.
Kieran Hardy and Jarrod Evans are the other backs on bench duty while Ryan Elias, Nicky Smith, Archie Griffin, Adam Beard and Olly Cracknell will offer forward cover.
Despite being winless in this year’s Six Nations, Tandy believes there has been improvement in Wales‘ ranks hence his decision to retain the same starting line-up.
“Having an unchanged team, I think it reflects the cohesion and the consistency in the group and the consistency of performance out in Ireland,” he said.
“This week we need to go up another level. We’ve had some really good performances. I think there were parts against France, then we built up into the Scotland game where I thought we were very good.
“Against Ireland we stepped up to the plate physically.
“Now it’s putting it all together and creating our best performance this weekend.”
Tandy and his players are looking forward to playing their final match of the Championship on home soil.
“For the team and myself, going back to Principality Stadium is amazing,” he said.
“The boys did really well creating their own energy against Ireland, but there’s nothing better [than being at home].
“The boys reference in meetings what the Scotland game meant to them and the French game, the New Zealand game – the fans have been incredible, and I think they’re really behind the team and the team are really putting in performances to represent our nation.”
Italy are currently in fourth position in the Six Nations standings with nine points amassed from four matches played while Wales occupy bottom spot with one point gained from their four Tests.
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Wales team to take on Italy
Wales: 15 Louis Rees-Zammit, 14 Ellis Mee, 13 Eddie James, 12 Joe Hawkins, 11 Josh Adams, 10. Dan Edwards, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 James Botham, 6 Alex Mann, 5 Ben Carter, 4 Dafydd Jenkins, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Dewi Lake (c), 1 Rhys Carre
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Archie Griffin, 19 Adam Beard, 20 Olly Cracknell, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Blair Murray
Date: Saturday, March 14
Kick-off: 16:40 GMT
Venue: Principality Stadium, Cardiff
Referee: Christophe Ridley (FFR)
Assistant Referees: Matthew Carley (RFU), Eoghan Cross (IRFU)
TMO: Mike Adamson (SRU)
FPRO: Eric Gauzins (FFR)