Wales head coach Warren Gatland has named his side for Saturday's quarter-final against Argentina in Marseille; Aaron Wainwright replaces Taulupe Faletau at No 8, with Dan Biggar and Liam Williams returning from injury
Thursday 12 October 2023 15:41, UK
Dan Biggar and Liam Williams will return to Wales' line-up for their crucial Rugby World Cup quarter-final clash against Argentina on Saturday.
But Gareth Anscombe is still not fit having dropped out of last week's game against Georgia with a groin injury.
Wales head coach Warren Gatland named a strong line-up for Saturday's match in Marseille, which kicks off at 4pm, as his team aim to make it five wins from five in France and progress to the semi-finals.
Biggar had already been declared fit earlier this week, after going off after just 12 minutes of their dominant Australia victory with a pectoral muscle strain.
With Taulupe Faletau ruled out of the remainder of the tournament after suffering a broken arm during Wales' win over Georgia; Aaron Wainwright is in at No 8.
Williams, meanwhile, returns to fitness at full-back.
Jac Morgan returns to captain the side from the back row with Tommy Reffell, along with first-choice hooker Ryan Elias and scrum-half Gareth Davies.
Nick Tompkins and George North continue their centre partnership for the fourth time in France with the latter set to make his 20th appearance at the Rugby World Cup.
"We had a goal of making the quarter-finals which we have achieved. Now it's about building on that momentum," said Gatland.
"It's exciting to enter into the knock-out stages of the tournament and we are ready for the challenge of a quarter-final. All our preparation has been geared to getting to this spot and we're very much relishing the opportunity.
"We're expecting another tough encounter this weekend against a physical Argentina side. We haven't had the perfect performance yet, but we have shown that we are a hard team to beat.
"There is a lot more growth in this squad - collectively and individually - and we can't wait to get out there in Marseille on Saturday."
Wales starting line-up for Rugby World Cup quarter-final
15. Liam Williams (Kubota Spears - 88 caps) 14. Louis Rees Zammit (Gloucester Rugby - 31 caps) 13. George North (Ospreys - 117 caps) 12. Nick Tompkins (Saracens - 31 caps) 11. Josh Adams (Cardiff Rugby - 53 caps) 10. Dan Biggar (Toulon - 111 caps) 9. Gareth Davies (Scarlets - 73 caps); 1. Gareth Thomas (Ospreys - 25 caps) 2. Ryan Elias (Scarlets - 37 caps) 3. Tomas Francis (Provence Rugby - 76 caps) 4. Will Rowlands (Racing 92 - 28 caps) 5. Adam Beard (Ospreys - 50 caps) 6. Jac Morgan (Ospreys - 14 caps) Captain 7. Tommy Reffell (Leicester Tigers - 12 caps) 8. Aaron Wainwright (Dragons - 42 caps).
Replacements 16. Dewi Lake (Ospreys - 11 caps) 17. Corey Domachowski (Cardiff Rugby - 5 caps) 18. Dillon Lewis (Harlequins - 53 caps) 19. Dafydd Jenkins (Exeter Chiefs - 11 caps) 20. Christ Tshiunza (Exeter Chiefs - 9 caps) 21. Tomos Williams (Cardiff Rugby/ Caerdydd - 52 caps) 22. Sam Costelow (Scarlets - 7 caps) 23. Rio Dyer (Dragons / Dreigiau - 13 caps).
Argentina 15. Juan Cruz Mallia 14. Emiliano Boffelli 13. Lucio Cinti 12. Santiago Chocobares 11. Mateo Carreras 10. Santiago Carreras 9. Tomas Cubelli 1. Thomas Gallo 2. Julian Montoya (captain) 3. Francisco Gomez Kodela 4. Guido Petti 5. Tomas Lavanini 6. Juan Martin Gonzalez 7. Marcos Kremer 8. Facundo Isa.
Replacements 16-Agustn Creevy 17-Joel Sclavi 18-Eduardo Bello 19-Matias Alemanno 20-Rodrigo Bruni 21-Lautaro Bazan Velez 22-Nicolas Sanchez 23-Matas Moroni.
Wales face Argentina in fine form on the back of winning all four of their pool games, including a 40-6 thrashing of former champions Australia.
Wales would face the winner of Ireland vs New Zealand were they to progress to the semi-finals, on Friday October 20.
Wales will be aiming to match their run to the semi-finals in Japan four years ago, where they ultimately lost narrowly to eventual winners South Africa.
The Rugby World Cup final is on Saturday October 28.
Follow Wales' Rugby World Cup quarter-final against Argentina on the Sky Sports website and app from 3.30pm on Saturday.
