Captain Rachel Taylor, who has recently returned from
injury, drops down to the bench with Nia Davies earning her first start in the
back row. Full back Rosie Fletcher suffered a shoulder injury in her try-scoring
performance in the tight 12-10 defeat against Ireland on Sunday (February 3) at
Aberavon. She will be replaced by Caernarfon’s Dyddgu Hywel, who along with
Davies, earned her first cap against Ireland as a late second half replacement.
With Davies coming in, Vicky Owens switches from the flank to No8.
Wales head coach Rhys Edwards says he has no concerns over
the relatively inexperienced two stepping in. he said: “Injuries have forced
the changes but I’ve got no hesitation throwing in Dyddgu and Nia.
“Nia has matured a lot as a player over the last year and
she has progressed a lot. She came on against Ireland and had some really nice
touches. Dyddgu has come into the squad quite late but I have no qualms about
putting her in.
“With [Taylor) coming back from injury, she played most of
the game against Ireland, which is more than we originally planned. We want to
ease her back in gently so Gemma Hallett will take over the captaincy.”
France are notoriously difficult to beat on their home patch
and will be looking for their first win of the campaign after suffering a shock
defeat to Italy last week in Rovato.
Edwards continued: “The fact we created so many chances
against Ireland was a huge positive and we basically stopped them playing for
most of the game, except for about five minutes. We know we have to be more
clinical and ruthless against France, who will be smarting from their defeat to
Italy.
“Despite the defeat last week, we’ve set our stall out in
the way we want to play the game, and if we repeat that type of performance I
see no reason why we can’t come away with a win.”
Wales Women take on France at Laon, with kick-off at 6.30pm.
Wales team in full:
15 Dyddgu Hywel
(Caernarfon)
14 Caryl James
(Cardiff Quins)
13 Elen Evans
(Waterloo)
12 Rebecca De Filippo
(Cardiff Quins)
11 Philippa Tuttiett
(Cardiff Quins)
10 Elinor Snowsill
(Bristol)
9 Amy Day (Unattached)
1 Megan York (Blaenau
Gwent)
2 Lowri Harries (Neath
Athletic)
3 Catrin Edwards
(Cardiff Quins)
4 Gemma Hallett
(Pontyclun, captain)
5 Shona Powell Hughes
(Neath Athletic)
6 Nia Davies (Cardiff
Met)
7 Sioned Harries
(Cardiff Quins)
8 Vicky Owens
(Pontyclun)
Substitutes:
16 Carys Phillips
(Cardiff Met)
17 Bethan Howell
(Seven Sisters)
18 Jenny Davies
(Waterloo)
19 Rachel Taylor
(Bristol)
20 Delyth Davies
(Cardiff Met)
21 Laura Prosser
(Pontyclun)
22 Leila Johns
(Unattached)
23 Rafiuke Taylor (Sea
View)
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