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Wales head coach Warren Gatland has announced his 15-man side to face Fiji in their World Cup opener on Sunday September 10.

Wales arrived in Bordeaux from their team base in Versailles this afternoon ahead of the weekend’s fixture.

As part of his side, Gatland is set to hand World Cup debuts to five players, with a further five ready and waiting on the bench.

In France, Wales have been drawn in Pool C. The last time the World Cup was held in France, Wales fell to an infamous 38-34 defeat to the Fijians to crash out at the group stage.

The Fiji clash will be followed by a date with Portugal in Nice on September 16, before a crunch clash with Australia in Lyon on September 24.

Wales’ final group game will come against Georgia in Nantes on October 7.

The side to take on Fiji is:

15 Liam Williams (Kubota Spears)
14 Louis Rees Zammit (Gloucester Rugby)*
13 George North (Ospreys)
12 Nick Tompkins (Saracens)*
11 Josh Adams (Cardiff Rugby)
10 Dan Biggar (RC Toulonnais)
9 Gareth Davies (Scarlets)
1 Gareth Thomas (Ospreys)*
2 Ryan Elias (Scarlets)
3 Tomas Francis (Provence Rugby)
4 Will Rowlands (Racing 92)*
5 Adam Beard (Ospreys)
6 Aaron Wainwright (Dragons)
7 Jac Morgan (Ospreys) captain*
8 Taulupe Faletau (Cardiff Rugby)

Substitutes:

16 Elliot Dee (Dragons)
17 Corey Domachowski ( Cardiff Rugby)*
18 Dillon Lewis (Harlequins)
19 Dafydd Jenkins (Exeter Chiefs)*
20 Tommy Reffell (Leicester Tigers)*
21 Tomos Williams (Cardiff Rugby)
22 Sam Costelow (Scarlets)*
23 Rio Dyer (Dragons)*

*player appearing in first Rugby World Cup

Speaking about his side, Gatland said: “The squad has worked incredibly hard over the last few months and has been preparing well for Fiji in the last couple of weeks.

“Fiji are a good side with some great individual athletes and they play with a lot more structure now than maybe they have done traditionally.

“We’ve had some good clarity about what we want to achieve and the way we want to play on the weekend. It’s going to be an exciting contest on Sunday and one that we are relishing.

“The boys are looking sharp, there’s a great environment in this group – players working for each other, enjoying each other’s company. We’re in a good place and can’t wait to get out there and get our Rugby World Cup 2023 campaign underway.”

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