Gatland recalls veteran North
London – George North (above) was recalled by Wales as Warren Gatland made wholesale alterations to his side for Saturday’s Six Nations match against England at Twickenham.
Veteran coach Gatland responded to Wales’ agonising 27-26 tournament-opening loss to Scotland in Cardiff by making seven changes to his starting-15.
Experienced North, 31, returns from a knee injury to replace Owen Watkin, with the powerhouse centre lining up alongside Nick Tompkins in midfield.
Meanwhile, flyhalf Sam Costelow, injured in the first-half against Scotland, is replaced by Ioan Lloyd, with Tomos Williams chosen instead of Gareth Davies at scrum-half.
Wales were 27-0 down against Scotland before scoring 26 unanswered points to nearly snatch an astounding victory at the Principality Stadium.
They initially struggled upfront, with Gatland selecting a new front row of Gareth Thomas, Elliot Dee and Keiron Assiratti to face England after the trio impressed off the bench in the second-half against Scotland.
Alex Mann, a try-scoring replacement last weekend, has been handed a first Wales start, with the flanker taking over from the injured James Botham.
“We’ve been critical and tough on ourselves this week,” said Gatland after naming his matchday23 yesterday.
“That first-half was nowhere near the standards we expect. We simply cannot start the same way this Saturday.”
The New Zealander added: “We showed in the second-half against Scotland what we are capable of. Now it’s about building on that performance and playing with some tempo from the off...We need to be accurate and keep our discipline.”
Wales have not won at Twickenham since 2015 but Gatland took heart from England’s unconvincing 27-24 defeat of Italy in Rome last week.
“This is a massive game, not only because of the history and what it means to everyone in Wales,” he said.
“But it’s an opportunity to get things on track a bit more. England are in a rebuilding phase. We’ll go there with a lot of confidence we can build on that second -half and belief.”
Uncapped Bath prop Archie Griffin is on the bench, where he is joined among the replacements by Will Rowlands after the lock linked up with the squad after his partner recently gave birth.