Six Scarlets selected in Wales starting line-up to face England in Llanelli

Rob LloydNews

Wayne Pivac has selected six Scarlets in his starting XV to take on England at Parc y Scarlets in the latest round of the Autumn Nations Cup on Saturday (16:00, Amazon Prime/S4C).

Wales will be aiming to upset the old enemy in Llanelli and Pivac has a big West Wales influence in his side.

Leigh Halfpenny starts at full-back in a back-three that contains Josh Adams and Louis Rees-Zammit. Liam Williams misses out because of a nasty facial injury. Centre Johnny Williams is rewarded for his impressive debut at the Parc and gets the nod in midfield against the country of his birth.

Up front, the scrummaging performance of Wyn Jones and Samson Lee against the Georgians last weekend earns the two props a start against England with the pair joining Ryan Elias in an all-Scarlets front row.
Jake Ball will win his 49th Wales cap and packs down alongside skipper Alun Wyn Jones.

“Saturday is another great opportunity for us and for this squad,” said head coach Pivac.

“It is another chance for us to take what we have been doing in training and take that into matchday and we are looking forward to it. We know what we need to do and we are focused on that for Saturday.”

On the bench Elliot Dee, Rhys Carre and Tomas Francis provide the front-row cover with Will Rowlands and Aaron Wainwright completing the forward contingent. Rhys Webb, Callum Sheedy and Owen Watkin provide the back-line cover.

Wales v England (Autumn Nations Cup; Saturday, November 28, 16:00)

15 Leigh Halfpenny (Scarlets); 14 Josh Adams (Cardiff Blues), 13 Nick Tompkins (Dragons), 12 Johnny Williams (Scarlets), 11 Louis Rees-Zammit (Gloucester); 10 Dan Biggar (Northampton Saints), 9 Lloyd Williams (Cardiff Blues); 1 Wyn Jones, 2 Ryan Elias, 3 Samson Lee, 4 Jake Ball (all Scarlets), 5 Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys, capt), 6 Shane Lewis-Hughes (Cardiff Blues), 7 Liam Botham (Cardiff Blues), 8 Taulupe Faletau (Bath).

Reps: 16 Elliot Dee (Dragons), 17 Rhys Carre (Cardiff Blues), 18 Tomas Francis (Exeter Chiefs), 19 Will Rowlands (Wasps), 20 Aaron Wainwright (Dragons), 21 Rhys Webb (Ospreys), 22 Callum Sheedy (Bristol Bears), 23 Owen Watkin (Ospreys).