Taulupe Faletau will make his first Wales appearance since last year’s Six Nations after returning from injury against opening Rugby World Cup opponents Fiji. The 100-cap No.8 missed Wales’ entire RWC warm-up schedule with a calf problem but is straight into the starting line-up for Sunday’s Group C match in Bordeaux.

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Jack Morgan, who will captain the team, and Aaron Wainwright will join Faletau in the back row, but Morgan co-captain Dewey Lake will not feature for matchday 23. Lake suffered a knee injury during Wales’ defeat to England at Twickenham last month.

Wales head coach Warren Gatland said: The medical team have done a fantastic job getting Dewey back to full fitness. He hasn’t had as much training as the other hookers since he took the knock to the knee, so we’ve got Ryan Elias and Elliot Dee for this game.

Warren Gatland makes huge calls as team is named

Warren Gatland has named his Wales team to face Fiji today after the squad arrived in Bordeaux. The starting line-up includes five players who made their Rugby World Cup debuts. Five more players are preparing for their first appearance at the Rugby World Cup from the bench. Co-captain Dewey Lake is not included in the squad due to lack of training time following an injury.

Jack Morgan leads the team at open side flanker. He is joined in the back row by Aaron Wainwright at blindside and Taulupe Faletau, who returns at number 8 and won his 101st cap, most recently playing in the Six Nations against tournament hosts France. George North is making his 17th appearance at the Rugby World Cup in his fourth tournament. He partners Nick Thompkins in the Welsh midfield.

Gareth Davies is picked during the scrum half and Dan Biggar is picked in the second half. Both are competing in their third global tournament. Davies has featured in each of Wales’ last 12 RWC games in the 2015 and 2019 competitions, while Biggar is on the cusp of reaching 100 Rugby World Cup points (currently 97 points).

Wales to face Fiji: Liam Williams; Louis Rees-Zammit, George North, Nick Tompkins, Josh Adams; Dan Biggar, Gareth Davis; Gareth Thomas, Ryan Elias, Thomas Francis, Will Rowlands, Adam Bird, Aaron Wainwright, Jack Morgan (c), Taulupe Faletau.

Replacements: Elliot Dee, Corey Domachowski, Dillon Lewis, Dafydd Jenkins, Tommy Reffell, Tomos Williams, Sam Costelow, Rio Dyer.

Eddie Jones makes shock call for Rugby World Cup

Eddie Jones’ penchant for the unexpected and taking high risks will continue into the Rugby World Cup after Ben Donaldson named him at fullback for Australia’s opening match. Donaldson, 24, widely considered lucky to make the Australia Rugby World Cup squad ahead of Quade Cooper after a disappointing Super Rugby season with the Waratahs.

But Jones remained fascinated by his potential, regularly praising his training performances at both full-back and as a five-eighth. Donaldson, who played three Tests, selected over the reliable Andrew Kellaway for the decider against Georgia in Paris on Sunday (AEST).

In his first start at No. 15, he provides Australia with another hitting option following Carter Gordon’s recent struggles off the tee. The Wallabies are winless under Jones in 2023 and another defeat would be devastating to their chances of reaching the quarter-finals.

Seventeen of the 23 players selected will be playing in their first Rugby World Cup match and the team’s Test match cap total is 343, Australia’s fewest at a World Cup since the 2003 match against Namibia in Adelaide (283). For more about Wales Rugby World Cup Tickets please visit our website.

“Andrew is the right choice. We just sympathized with this game. Donno gives us the coverage we need,” Jones said. He trained with us for six to eight weeks, mostly in a full-back role rather than 10. His shots on goal were at a high level, which obviously gives us two (options) per game. With Nick White on the bench, that gives us three.” for Game. This is an area we needed to support, hence the choice.”

Wallabies Unleash Strong Line-Up for Rugby World Cup Opener

The Australians’ hopes further boosted as center Samu Kerevi declared fit to start. Prop Taniela Tupou will make her 50th appearance for the Wallabies with an unchanged forward line-up from the one France thrashed in the last warm-up match.

“We have a really big, strong and fast team ready to take on the opposition, and that starts with Georgia, Jones said. I never would have thought I would walk into a press conference as Australia coach and say we have a huge team that can dominate the Rugby World Cup, and we have it. We intend to use this to our advantage.”

Georgia named nine players, including captain Merab Sharikadze, who faced the Wallabies at the 2019 Rugby World Cup and lost 27-8 in Fukuroy. The rest include scrum-half Vasil Lobzhanidze, number 8 Beka Gorgadze and lock Konstantin Mikautadze. Six are from the starting XV for Rugby Club in France, including forwards Po Guram Papidze and Beka Gorgadze.

Luka Ivanishvili is on the open flank after appearing everywhere except the back row during the Rugby World Cup warm-up. He made his eighth cap while regular opener Beka Saginadze remains sidelined with injury. Georgia’s main threat comes from right winger Akaki Tabutsadze, who has scored 10 tries in eight Tests this year, including two braces and a hat-trick with AP.

WALLABIES (15-1): Ben Donaldson, Mark Navaganitawase, Jordan Petaia, Samu Kerevi, Marika Koroibete, Carter Gordon, Tate McDermott, Rob Valetini, Fraser McWright, Tom Hooper, Will Skelton (c), Richie Arnold, Taniela Tupou, Dave Poretsky, Angus Bell

Reserves: Matt Faessler, Blake Schoupp, Zane Nonggorr, Rob Leota, Langi Gleeson, Nic White, Lalakai Foketi, Suliasi Vunivalu

Jones brings in Donaldson for Kellaway in Australia’s Rugby World Cup opener

Coach Eddie Jones, who has previously compared his team to a broken-down Datsun, says the Wallabies are now worthy of Formula One as they count down to their Rugby World Cup opener against Georgia in Paris.

Jones continued his trend of shock selections for the sold-out Stade de France pool match on Saturday (Sunday AEST), naming Ben Donaldson for his first Test start at fullback ahead of Andrew Kellaway. Jones admitted he needed more shooting opportunities after first choice Carter Gordon scored just one in five against France in the RWC warm-up.

“Andrew is the right choice; Just felt this game, Dono gives us the coverage we need, Jones said. His [Donaldson’s] kicking on target was at a high level, which obviously gives us two kickers and with Nick White on the bench it gives us three. This is an area that we needed to support a little bit, so we chose.”

Backline key player Samu Kerevi recovered from a hand injury and returned in the number 12 shirt, along with Jordan Petaia, Mark Navaganitawase and Marika Koroibete as wingers, while Gordon and Tate McDermott paired again in the halves.

Wallabies Ready to Rev Up Their Rugby World Cup Campaign

Jones hopes the NRL recruits Suliasi Vunivalu to get some punch off the bench after impressing for France. The Wallabies’ forward line-up remained unchanged, with stalwart prop Taniela Tupou playing his 50th Test and Will Skelton captaining the team.

After their defeat to Argentina in Sydney in July, Jones compared the Wallabies to his first car, a Datsun 1200, and described how he would fix one part only to have another break shortly after. But he said the team is now operating at full capacity.

We’re ready to go, mate, in Formula One – whatever car you love in Formula One, the fastest one, we’re almost ready to take off, mate, Jones said. Now we are at the starting line, and now everyone starts from the same point.

“This is really good progress. We went through a period where we had to almost restructure the team to get ourselves into a position where we think we can win the Rugby World Cup. This is the first step against Georgia a very important game.”

Australia have not won the William Webb Ellis Trophy since 1999 and will hope to improve on their performance in the 2019 quarter-finals in Japan. Georgia named nine players, including captain Merab Sharikadze, who lost 27-8 to the Wallabies in a clash at the 2019 tournament in Japan.

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