Wales head coach Wayne Pivac makes two changes to the team who beat England in Cardiff to win the Triple Crown; Wales need wins against Italy and France in final two games to complete second Grand Slam in three seasons
Tuesday 9 March 2021 19:11, UK
Wales head coach Wayne Pivac has made two changes for Saturday's Six Nations clash against Italy in Rome.
Scrum-half Gareth Davies takes over from his injured Scarlets colleague Kieran Hardy, while lock Cory Hill starts instead of Adam Beard.
Victory over Italy would tighten Wales' grip on the Six Nations title race, following their Triple Crown-clinching success against England last time out, and also leave them one win away from achieving a second Grand Slam in three seasons.
Hardy suffered a hamstring injury during the England game, after earlier scoring a try in Wales' 40-24 triumph.
Hill impressed with a try-scoring contribution, after going on as a replacement, and he now partners captain Alun Wyn Jones in the second row.
Changes on the bench include places for Cardiff Blues prop Rhys Carre and Scarlets lock Jake Ball, who will win his 50th cap if he goes on at Stadio Olimpico.
Carre replaces Rhodri Jones, who has been released from the Wales squad after suffering a calf muscle injury in training.
Pivac said: "We are really looking forward to this weekend and are ready to get out there on Saturday.
"Three [wins] from three is a great start, but there has been plenty to do and plenty of work-ons.
"We've had a two-week build-up to this game, trained really well in the fallow week, and are looking forward to round four."
Wales have not lost to Italy since 2007, while the Azzurri last tasted Six Nations success against any opponent when they beat Scotland at Murrayfield six years ago.
Pivac will not be taking them lightly though and added: "There are two very important games to go, and it is about getting results.
"Don't expect us to be throwing it around willy-nilly.
"We have got a job to do, and we have got to get on top of this Italian side before you see any of that sort of razzle-dazzle.
"What the England game has done is put us in a great position, but we don't want to undo the good work that has been done in the first three matches.
"For us, it is about the performance, and we are not overly happy with the full 80 minutes yet.
"We are doing some things very well in games, and I think most people would agree that we are improving in different areas, but we have still got a long way to go.
"I think a lot of changes at this point in time, we wouldn't want to slow that momentum down.
"We think this is the best way to tackle this game."
Wales: 15 Liam Williams; 14 Louis Rees-Zammit, 13 George North, 12 Jonathan Davies, 11 Josh Adams; 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Gareth Davies; 1 Wyn Jones, 2 Ken Owens, 3 Tomas Francis, 4 Cory Hill, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 6 Josh Navidi, 7 Justin Tipuric, 8 Taulupe Faletau.
Replacements: 16 Elliot Dee, 17 Rhys Carre, 18 Leon Brown, 19 Jake Ball, 20 Aaron Wainwright, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 Callum Sheedy, 23 Uilisi Halaholo.
