Cap fits for Wales against French

WALES will make Six Nations history on Saturday when they field the most experienced team ever selected for a Championship match – by any country.

Their starting line-up for the Principality Stadium showdown with France will boast no fewer than 859 caps.

That surpasses the previous highest tally of 822 in the Italian side which defeated Scotland in Rome back in 2012.

These startling stats have been provided by Simon Gleave, head of sports analysis at Gracenote.

He has come up with a comprehensive list of the most-capped teams in Six Nations history.

The caps tally doesn’t include matches for the British & Irish Lions, the Barbarians or any other representative side, but just appearances for the country itself.

Wales also stand third on the alltime list, with the team that started against Ireland just 12 days ago having a total of 786 caps.

That figure has now been hiked up to record-breaking proportions by call-ups for scrum-half Gareth Davies and back rower Ross Moriarty, who have 95 caps between them.

No fewer than seven of the team have made more than 70 Test appearances for Wales, with skipper Alun Wyn Jones way out in front on a remarkable 136.

After Saturday’s game, only three of the team will have started fewer than 10 Six Nations matches - new boy Nick Tompkins and props Wyn Jones and Dillon Lewis.

Looking at the most-capped teams in Six Nations history, the top eight all took the field in the past decade, a reflection of just how many Test matches are played these days.

Wales played 16 in 2019.

Wales team to face France and their caps...

15. Leigh Halfpenny (87 caps)

14. George North (93 caps)

13. Nick Tompkins (2 caps)

12. Hadleigh Parkes (27 caps)

11. Josh Adams (23 caps)

10. Dan Biggar (81 caps)

9. Gareth Davies (52 caps)

1. Wyn Jones (24 caps)

2. Ken Owens (75 caps)

3. Dillon Lewis (24 caps)

4. Jake Ball (44 caps)

5. Alun Wyn Jones (capt) (136 caps)

6. Ross Moriarty (43 caps)

7. Justin Tipuric (74 caps)

8. Taulupe Faletau (74 caps) Total caps: 859

Six Nations starting XVs with most caps (top four) 859 - Wales (v France, 2020) 822 - Italy (v Scotland, 2012) 786 - Wales (v Ireland, 2020) 777 - Italy (v England, 2015)