Wales debut for Mee as Anscombe & Llewellyn return

Men’s Six Nations: Wales v Ireland

Venue: Principality Stadium, Cardiff Date: Saturday, 22 February Kick-off: 14: 15 GMT

Ellis Mee, the Scarlets’ wing, will start against Ireland, while Gareth Anscombe and Max Llewellyn, the centre, will start Saturday’s Six Nations game in Cardiff.

After Warren Gatland’s departure earlier this month, interim head coach Matt Sherratt has made eight personnel adjustments from the side that lost against Italy, as well as two positional adjustments.

Josh Adams was replaced by Mee, 21, who signed for Scarlets this season from Nottingham and qualified for Wales through his mother from Newport.

Mee is chosen after playing just 10 Scarlets competitive professional games.

Anscombe, 33, will make his first Six Nations appearance since guiding Wales to a Grand Slam victory against Ireland in Cardiff six years ago.

Gatland had previously left out Anscombe and Evans. In his first team, the former head coach had selected Ospreys No. 10 Dan Edwards, who is uninterested in international rugby.

Ben Thomas, a new fly-half at Cardiff, started the defeats against France and Italy.

Llewellyn, a Gloucester teammate of Anscombe, will play midfield alongside Thomas and will start straight back.

There is a new-look starting front-row trio of Nicky Smith, Elliot Dee and WillGriff John, who will make his Six Nations debut and play his first international for three-and-a-half years.

Dafydd Jenkins, a lock for Exeter, is recovering from illness, while Tommy Reffell, a fellow flanker and captain Jac Morgan, and number eight Taulupe Faletau, a member of the back row, join them. Morgan switches to blind-side with Reffell wearing seven.

Gatland’s second stint as head coach came to an end with the humiliating display in Rome, which was Wales’ worst tournament defeat in eight years.

Wales lost their 14th Test loss in a row, and within 72 hours Gatland was gone, with interim Six Nations fixtures against Ireland, Scotland, and England starting with interim appointments from Cardiff boss Sherratt.

Wales haven’t won a test match since October 2023 and are currently 12th in the world rankings.

Since defeating England in a World Cup warm-up match in August 2023, they have lost seven consecutive international matches at the Principality Stadium.

“We’re looking forward to the challenge of facing Ireland”, said Sherratt.

This week, we spoke about being brave but not reckless, and making sure everyone is aware of their roles. We are also aware of how important it will be to uphold discipline.

Everyone is looking forward to our first Six Nations home game. The atmosphere at Principality Stadium is incredible, and the players are eager to play at home.

In contrast, Ireland is ranked second in the world and is attempting to make history by capturing its third-straight Six Nations title.

After defeating England and Scotland in the opening matches of the tournament, they are still on the verge of a Grand Slam. They can clinch their 14th Triple Crown in Cardiff by defeating Wales this weekend.

Replacements: E Lloyd, G Thomas, H Thomas, Teddy Williams, Wainwright, R Williams, J Evans, J Roberts.