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Other SportsNorth returns as Gatland shuffles pack for England test

North returns as Gatland shuffles pack for England test

George North will make his 50th Six Nations appearance after being named in the Wales team to face England on Saturday.

North missed the 27-26 defeat to Scotland at the weekend through injury but will play at Twickenham with coach Warren Gatland making seven changes to his starting line-up.

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Owen Watkin and Gareth Davies have been omitted from the squad altogether while Corey Domachowski and Ryan Elias drop down to the bench. Sam Costelow, Leon Brown and James Botham are injured.

In come an entirely new front row comprising Gareth Thomas, Elliot Dee and Keiron Assiratti, flanker Alex Mann, Ioan Lloyd and Tomos Williams.

Gatland said: “We’ve been critical and tough on ourselves this week. That first half was nowhere near the standards we expect. We simply cannot start the same way this Saturday.

“We showed in the second half against Scotland what we are capable of. Now it’s about building on that performance and playing with some tempo from the off.

“We’ve made a few changes to the starting line-up this weekend which gives opportunities to the players coming in. We need to be accurate and keep our discipline.

“This is a massive game, not only because of the history and what it means to everyone in Wales. But it’s an opportunity to get things on track a bit more.

“England are in a rebuilding phase. We’ll go there with a lot of confidence we can build on that second-half and belief.”

Jon Fisher
Jon Fisher
Jon has over 20 years' experience in sports journalism having worked at the Press Association, Goal and Stats Perform, covering three World Cups, an Olympics and numerous other major sporting events.
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