Northampton Saints fly-half Dan Biggar will lead Wales in their opening clash of the Guinness Six Nations, as Wayne Pivac names his first squad of the tournament to face Ireland.
The 95-time Wales international starts the clash on Saturday (5 February, kick-off: 2.15pm); Biggar is in line to make his 100th Wales cap if he features in all five of the tournament’s matches, as the fly-half embarks on his 11th Six Nations campaign in Dublin.
Head coach Pivac said: “History in Dublin, it’s a hard place to go. There have been some great games in recent years against Ireland.
“They’re a very, very tough, very physical side. So we know we’re going to have to step up in that area of the game and make sure we do that for 80 mins. We’ve got to be very disciplined and as a result be in there fighting for the right result.”
WALES vs IRELAND
2022 Guinness Six Nations
Saturday 5 February, 2022
Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Kick-off: 2.15pm
15 Liam Williams (Scarlets – 74 caps)
14 Johnny McNicholl (Scarlets – 8 caps)
13 Josh Adams (Cardiff Rugby – 35 caps)
12 Nick Tompkins (Saracens – 16 caps)
11 Louis Rees-Zammit (Gloucester Rugby – 12 caps)
10 Dan Biggar (Northampton Saints – 95 caps), captain
9 Tomos Williams (Cardiff Rugby – 29 caps)
1 Wyn Jones (Scarlets – 38 caps)
2 Ryan Elias (Scarlets – 23 caps)
3 Tomas Francis (Ospreys – 60 caps)
4 Will Rowlands (Dragons – 13 caps)
5 Adam Beard (Ospreys – 29 caps), vice-captain
6 Ellis Jenkins (Cardiff Rugby – 14 caps)
7 Taine Basham (Dragons – 7 caps)
8 Aaron Wainwright (Dragons – 34 caps)
Replacements:
16 Dewi Lake (Ospreys – uncapped)
17 Gareth Thomas (Ospreys – 5 caps)
18 Dillon Lewis (Cardiff Rugby – 34 caps)
19 Seb Davies (Cardiff Rugby – 13 caps)
20 Ross Moriarty (Dragons – 49 caps)
21 Gareth Davies (Scarlets – 65 caps)
22 Callum Sheedy (Bristol Bears – 13 caps)
23 Owen Watkin (Ospreys – 26 caps)
