Francis starts for Wales in semi-final
By Mark Stevens
25/10/19
Warren Gatland says he is even more confident of his Wales team beating South Africa on Sunday than against France in last week’s quarter-final — despite losing two key players to injury.
With Josh Navidi and now Liam Williams ruled out of the tournament, Gatland named a team, including Exeter Chiefs prop Tomas Francis, which shows three changes from the one that delivered the one-point win over Jacques Brunel’s side last Sunday.
Ross Moriarty comes in at No.8 for Navidi, who came off last week with an injured hamstring, while Leigh Halfpenny comes in at full-back for Williams, who had picked up an ankle injury sustained in an accidental collision during training on Wednesday.
The third change was better news for Wales, with Jonathan Davies returning at outside centre for Owen Watkin. Davies was forced to pull out on the day of the game against France after a recurrence of the knee injury that forced him off against Fiji in the pool stages.
“We hope he is fit,” said Gatland of Davies. “He has come through training this week. He was very close last week and he made a decision last week to rule himself out for the betterment of the team.”
Gatland acknowledged that Williams, one of the best full-backs in the world, was a huge loss, but was full of praise for Halfpenny, who brings plenty of experience.
South Africa, meanwhile, have suffered a major injury loss of their own, with wing Cheslin Kolbe ruled out after aggravating an ankle injury in last week’s quarter-final victory over hosts Japan.
“He [Williams] is undoubtedly a big loss from an attacking perspective and what he has achieved in the game in the last year or so,” said Gatland. “But bringing in the experience of someone like Leigh Halfpenny gives us a different element.
“He is defensively probably the best full-back in the world in terms of his aerial game and coverage defensively. We had a long debate about whether we started Leigh in the first place and potentially move Liam to the wing.
“There was a long discussion about that, so Leigh was probably unlucky he was not in the team in the first place. We are disappointed for a world-class player like Liam, but we are happy bringing in someone with the experience of Leigh. It is a change but we don’t think that we are weakening the side in any way with the changes we have made.”
Gatland is desperate for the last game of his hugely successful 11-year spell in charge to be a first World Cup Final, rather than the bronze medal match that his team were involved in eight years ago.
“I have got two games to go as the Wales coach and I want to enjoy these last two games,” he said. “There are probably nine or 10 players who won’t be involved in another World Cup, so they have got to relish that opportunity and be excited about this.
“You have got a chance to do something special in your life. These chances come along very rarely and you have got to grab them with both hands.
“When you want something bad enough and you really, really want it, then it can happen. We have a group of players that really want to do a good performance on Sunday and hopefully get to the World Cup Final. For us to get to the Final of a World Cup, it will be unbelievable, given the small playing numbers we have in Wales, the four teams. We feel like we continually punch above our weight.
“I am excited about it. I’m more looking forward to this game than I was last week, and more confident about this game than we probably were against France.”
WALES TEAM TO PLAY SOUTH AFRICA
1. Wyn Jones (Scarlets, 20 Caps)
2. Ken Owens (Scarlets, 71 Caps)
3. Tomas Francis (Exeter Chiefs, 47 Caps)
4. Jake Ball (Scarlets, 40 Caps)
5. Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys, capt, 132 Caps)
6. Aaron Wainwright (Dragons, 17 Caps)
7. Justin Tipuric (Ospreys, 70 Caps)
8. Ross Moriarty (Dragons, (39 Caps)
9. Gareth Davies (Scarlets, 49 Caps)
10. Dan Biggar (Northampton Saints, 77 Caps)
11. Josh Adams (Cardiff Blues, 19 Caps)
12. Hadleigh Parkes (Scarlets, 23 Caps)
13. Jonathan Davies (Scarlets, 79 Caps)
14. George North (Ospreys, 90 Caps)
15. Leigh Halfpenny (Scarlets, 84 Caps)
16. Elliot Dee (Dragons, 27 Caps)
17. Rhys Carre (Saracens, 4 Caps)
18. Dillon Lewis (Cardiff Blues, 20 Caps)
19. Adam Beard (Ospreys, 18 Caps)
20. Aaron Shingler (Scarlets, 24 Caps)
21. Tomos Williams (Cardiff Blues, 14 Caps)
22. Rhys Patchell (Scarlets, 17 Caps)
23. Owen Watkin (Ospreys, 20 Caps)