Wales coach Steve Tandy has made four changes to his starting lineup for Saturday’s Nations Championship Test against the All Blacks in Cardiff.
Taine Basham will make his first Test appearance since the 2024 Six Nations, replacing the injured Aaron Wainwright at No 8.
Wainwright, who started in Wales’ 28-21 victory over Japan last weekend, has been ruled out with a minor calf injury.
James Botham comes in at blindside flank, while Adam Beard returns to the second row.
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The only change to the backline sees Gabriel Hamer-Webb handed his first Nations Championship appearance on the left wing with Josh Adams rested.
Tandy has also lost experienced prop Tomas Francis, who suffered a knee injury during training this week and is set to be released from the squad. Keiron Assiratti has been called up as cover.
“I’m delighted that Taine gets an opportunity this weekend,” said Tandy. “It’s been a while since his last appearance for Wales but he didn’t give up and has put in a lot of dedication and hard work to get back.
“The way he’s been playing for Cardiff has been great and I’m excited to see him go on Saturday.”
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Tenth-ranked Wales head into the encounter buoyed by their 28-21 victory over Japan and hoping to claim a first – and highly unlikely – win against the All Blacks since 1953.
“We’re excited for the opportunity we have against New Zealand,” said Tandy. “It was good to get the win last Saturday, but some elements of our execution weren’t where we wanted.
“We have to go up another level this weekend and be more ruthless. We have one of the best teams in the world coming. We want to be better and put in an 80-minute performance.”
WALES – 15 Blair Murray, 14 Louis Rees-Zammit, 13 Eddie James, 12 Max Llewellyn, 11 Gabriel Hamer-Webb, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Taine Basham, 7 Jac Morgan, 6 James Botham, 5 Adam Beard, 4 Dafydd Jenkins, 3 Archie Griffin, 2 Dewi Lake (c), 1 Nicky Smith.
Bench: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Ben Carter, 20 Taine Plumtree, 21 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 22 Dan Edwards, 23 Louie Hennessey.
Photo: Ryan Hiscott/Getty Images
The post Wales bring back Basham for All Blacks clash appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Wales coach Steve Tandy has made four changes to his starting lineup for Saturday’s Nations Championship Test against the All Blacks in Cardiff.
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