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Navidi one of five Blue and Blacks to face France

International | 9th March 2022


Josh Navidi will pull on the number seven jersey as one of five Cardiff Rugby stars named to face France in the Guinness Six Nations on Friday night.

The British & Irish Lions flanker made his return to action following five months on the sidelines with a shoulder injury during the Blue and Blacks defeat to Ulster last week.

Navidi came through the full 80 minutes and goes straight into Wayne Pivac’s starting team and is joined in the back-row by Cardiff teammate Seb Davies and future Blue and Black Taulupe Faletau. 

Tomos Williams and Josh Adams remain in the starting back-line, while Dillon Lewis provides tight-head cover from the bench. 

Wales head coach Wayne Pivac said: “Josh [Navidi] is a fantastic player and has played well for us in the past. He’s come back before straight back into the side so having 80 minutes under his belt for Cardiff we think that’s enough for him and we look forward to him being back out there bringing that experience. He’s a very good player and has played at this level on many occasions so that’s going to be great for us.

“Seb at six just gives us a little bit more size. It helps the lineout, but also in the wider channels where he often runs he’s got the skillset to trouble a few defenders out wide.

“I think Gareth (Thomas) made a really big impact for us last week as did a number of players and so he gets to start. Wyn (Jones) will finish the game this time as opposed to starting it.

“France are the in-form team in the world at the moment. Any team that can score 40 points against New Zealand plus having recently beaten Ireland in this competition are going to be hard to beat. They have players a number of world class players and are a big side that will test us physically and at the set piece.”

“We’re really excited to be back at Principality Stadium this week. The guys love playing at home. It’s just fantastic having the crowd there. I think there’s still a few seats left so we’d encourage people to get along and support the team.

Wales senior men’s team to face France (Friday 11 March, KO 8pm. Live on BBC and S4C)

15. Liam Williams (Scarlets – 77 caps)

14. Alex Cuthbert (Ospreys – 50 caps)

13. Owen Watkin (Ospreys – 29 caps)

12. Jonathan Davies (Scarlets – 95 caps) 

11. Josh Adams (Cardiff Rugby – 37 caps)

10. Dan Biggar (Northampton Saints – 98 caps), captain

9. Tomos Williams (Cardiff Rugby – 32 caps)

1. Gareth Thomas (Ospreys – 8 caps)

2. Ryan Elias (Scarlets – 26 caps)

3. Tomas Francis (Ospreys – 63 caps)

4. Will Rowlands (Dragons – 16 caps)

5. Adam Beard (Ospreys – 32 caps), vice-captain

6. Seb Davies (Cardiff Rugby – 15 caps)

7. Josh Navidi (Cardiff Rugby – 28 caps)

8. Taulupe Faletau (Bath Rugby – 87 caps)

 

Replacements

16. Dewi Lake (Ospreys – 3 caps)

17. Wyn Jones (Scarlets – 41 caps)

18. Dillon Lewis (Cardiff Rugby – 36 caps)

19. Ross Moriarty (Dragons – 52 caps)

20. Jac Morgan (Ospreys – 2 caps)

21. Kieran Hardy (Scarlets – 9 caps)

22. Gareth Anscombe (Ospreys – 30 caps)

23. Louis Rees-Zammit (Gloucester Rugby – 14 caps)

 

ENDS