Francis starts against France

By Mark Stevens
15/3/17

Exeter Chiefs prop Tomas Francis lines-up in an unchanged Welsh match-day squad to take on France in Paris on Saturday (3:45pm).

All 23-players who featured in the last Friday's victory over Ireland in Cardiff are included for Wales' Six Nations finale.

Hooker Ken Owens, who made his international debut at the 2011 Rugby World Cup, will line-up alongside Rob Evans and Francis in the front-row on the occasion of his 50th cap.

Captain Alun Wyn Jones and Jake Ball are named in the second-row with Sam Warburton, Justin Tipuric and Ross Moriarty completing the forward pack.

Rhys Webb and Dan Biggar are named at half-back with Scarlets duo Scott Williams and Jonathan Davies partnering in the midfield.

Liam Williams, George North and Leigh Halfpenny again comprise the back-three.

"I was delighted for the players at Friday's result and performance and they deserve the opportunity to build on that in our final RBS 6 Nations encounter," said Wales Head Coach Rob Howley.

"The experience we showed and the intensity we brought to the match was hugely important and that will just as important as we face good France team at home.

"We put pressure on ourselves and turned that pressure into a result. For us there are areas of the game we want to work on from Ireland and we have an opportunity to do that on Saturday and finish the campaign with another quality performance.

"The players who took to the field at Principality Stadium, deserve the opportunity to start and we were pleased with the impact from the bench so will be looking for the same this weekend."

WALES TEAM TO PLAY FRANCE:

Leigh Halfpenny (Toulon) (70 Caps)
George North (Northampton Saints) (68 Caps)
Jonathan Davies (Scarlets) (63 Caps)
Scott Williams (Scarlets) (45 Caps)
Liam Williams (Scarlets) (41 Caps)
Dan Biggar (Ospreys) (55 Caps)
Rhys Webb (Ospreys) (27 Caps)
Rob Evans (Scarlets) (16 Caps)
Ken Owens (Scarlets) (49 Caps)
Tomas Francis (Exeter Chiefs) (21 Caps)
Jake Ball (Scarlets) (25 Caps)
Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys, capt) (109 Caps)
Sam Warburton (Cardiff Blues) (73 Caps)
Justin Tipuric (Ospreys) (50 Caps)
Ross Moriarty (Gloucester Rugby) (16 Caps)

Replacements:
Scott Baldwin (Ospreys) (32 Caps)
Nicky Smith (Ospreys) (11 Caps)
Samson Lee (Scarlets) (33 Caps)
Luke Charteris (Bath) (73 Caps)
Taulupe Faletau (Bath) (65 Caps)
Gareth Davies (Scarlets) (24 Caps)
Sam Davies (Ospreys) (6 Caps)
Jamie Roberts (Harlequins) (90 Caps