Wales pick power-packed centre pairing for Japan match

Wales have selected a physically imposing centre pairing of Max Llewellyn and Eddie James for Saturday’s Nations Championship match against Japan, as head coach Steve Tandy makes seven changes to the side beaten 43-0 by South Africa in July.

Llewellyn, named at inside centre, stands 1.96m tall and weighs 107kg; James, at outside centre, is 1.90m and 103kg. Tandy has chosen Llewellyn over a more established ball-player in the number 12 role. It is the sixth different centre partnership in Tandy’s 13 internationals in charge of Wales.

Fly-half Sam Costelow is preferred to Dan Edwards, while Josh Adams and Louis Rees-Zammit start on the wings, with Blair Murray at full-back. Captain Dewi Lake joins props Nicky Smith and Archie Griffin in the front row. Dafydd Jenkins returns after a knee injury to partner Ben Carter in the second row.

Six of the starting eight forwards play club rugby in England. The team also includes three Scarlets players, two from Cardiff and one from Dragons, with no Ospreys player in the starting side.

“There’s lots of competition for positions within the squad, which is where we want to be,” Tandy said. He said Wales were excited to be back at home and wanted to start the next phase of their campaign strongly.

Wales began the tournament in July with a win over Fiji, followed by defeats against Argentina and South Africa. They host Japan on Saturday at 16:40 GMT, then face New Zealand and Australia at home on successive Saturdays before travelling to Twickenham for the final weekend of November. The opposition for those play-off matches is yet to be determined.