Louis Rees Zammit will start his first match for Wales since returning from the NFL to rugby union when they face Japan in Cardiff this Saturday. This is a crucial match in Wales’ bid to land a more favourable Rugby World Cup 2027 draw. City Chiefs and Jacksonville Jaguars try to break into American Football.
He was named as one of Steve Tandy’s four changes to the side for the Autumn Nations Series match at Principality Stadium. This will be his 34th appearance.
Wales squad to play Japan
Wales starting XV:
15. Blair Murray, 14. Louis Rees Zammit, 13. Max Llewellyn, 12. Ben Thomas, 11.Josh Adams, 10. Dan Edwards, 9. Tomos Williams, 8. Olly Cracknell, 6. Alex Mann. Aaron Wainwright, 5. Adam Beard. Dafydd Jeffers, 3. Archie Griffin, 2. Dewi Lake, 1. Nicky SmithReplacements 16. Liam Belcher. Rhys Carre 18. Keiron Assiratti, 19. Freddie Thomas, 20. Taine Plumtree (21). Kieran Hardy, 22. Jarrod Evans (23). Nick Tompkins
Alex Mann will start at the openside flanker position with Alan Wainwright as the blindside. Captain Jac Morgan is ruled out for the rest of the autumn series due to a dislocated shoulder suffered against Argentina.
Leicester’s Olly cracknell is ranked eight, after making his debut last weekend as a substitute.
Nicky Smith, Archie Griffin and Keiron assiratti are brought in to replace Rhys Carre (who drops down from the starting lineup) and Keiron. The match starts at 5.40pm.
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Steve Tandy, the new Wales coach, spoke in August about Louis Rees Zammit’s return.
The top six teams in the world rankings will be seeded into band 1, with the next six teams in band 2. The bands 3 and 4 are the next six-team groups.
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The standings are determined by a points exchange system whereby teams take off each other’s points based on their results. Wales, however, should be encouraged that they defeated Eddie Jones’ Japan team 31-22 in Kobe, Japan, in July. This victory ended an 18-match losing streak.
2025-11-13 10:36:00
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