Newbridge’s Elliot Dee on bench for Wales’ opening Six Nations match

Head coach Warren Gatland has announced his side to face Scotland in Wales’ first match of this year’s Six Nations.

Wales will be looking to improve on last year’s efforts, where they won just one game and finished fifth. They’ll have to do it without star-man Louis Rees-Zammit however, who has decided to try his hand at American football instead.

Dafydd Jenkins has been made captain, whilst Dragons man Elliot Dee, who hails from Newbridge, will start the game on the bench.

The side to face Scotland:

15. Cameron Winnett (Cardiff Rugby)

14. Josh Adams (Cardiff Rugby)

13. Owen Watkin (Ospreys)

12. Nick Tompkins (Saracens)

11. Rio Dyer (Dragons)

10. Sam Costelow (Scarlets)

9. Gareth Davies (Scarlets)

1. Corey Domachowski (Cardiff Rugby)

2. Ryan Elias (Scarlets)

3. Leon Brown (Dragons)

4. Dafydd Jenkins (Exeter Chiefs) Captain

5. Adam Beard (Ospreys)

6. James Botham (Cardiff Rugby)

7. Tommy Reffell (Leicester Tigers)

8. Aaron Wainwright (Dragons)

Replacements:

16. Elliot Dee (Dragons)

17. Kemsley Mathias (Scarlets)

18. Keiron Assiratti (Cardiff Rugby)

19. Teddy Williams (Cardiff Rugby)

20. Alex Mann (Cardiff Rugby)

21. Tomos Williams (Cardiff Rugby)

22. Ioan Lloyd (Scarlets)

23. Mason Grady (Cardiff Rugby)

Talking about the match, Gatland said: “We’ve got some players who were involved in the world cup so have some experience and then some exciting youngsters and when I look at that forward pack, it’s not a small forward pack. It’s a big forward pack.

“Scotland haven’t won here in a long, long time and it’s an opportunity for us to continue with that record. The roof’s going to be open, Scotland want the roof open which I think is a little bit disappointing from an atmosphere point of view, because when that roof is shut it does tend to create a lot more atmosphere and noise in the stadium. But that’s the decision that they made.

“I’ve been really pleased with their attitude and the way that they’ve trained this week and we should be really excited about this first game.”

Wales will host Scotland on Saturday February 3, with the game due to kick-off at 4.45pm.