Gatland names Wales team to face England a day early amid seven changes

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Warren Gatland has made changes to the Wales team which fell short against Scotland in the Six Nations opener Credit: PA Images

Warren Gatland has named his Wales team to face England a day early - opting for seven changes for the trip to Twickenham on Saturday.

Wales narrowly lost 27-26 to Scotland at the Principality Stadium for the first time in more than 20 years in the opening round last weekend.

Wales head coach Gatland has made seven changes to the matchday squad.

George North will return to make his 50th Six Nations appearance, and half-backs Ioan Lloyd and Tomos Williams will start following their impact in the second half against the Scots.

Blindside flanker Alex Mann will also start after making his try-scoring debut off the bench last Saturday.

An all-new front-row of Gareth Thomas, Elliot Dee and Keiron Assiratti is named.

On the bench, Archie Griffin is line for his debut. Ryan Elias, Corey Domachowski, Will Rowlands and Taine Basham make up the forwards cover, while Kieran Hardy, Cai Evans and Mason Grady are the backs cover.

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.

Wales' Rio Dyer scored the side's second try of the game against Scotland on Saturday Credit: PA images

"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."He continued: "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."

Wales senior men’s team to play England at Twickenham Stadium in the Guinness Six Nations, live on ITV, Saturday 10 February KO 4.45pm GMT.

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