Why Faletau has been left out... and there’s a place on the bench for Webb

HERE’S everything Wales boss Wayne Pivac had to say after naming his team to face England in the Six Nations this weekend.

Question: Is it a gamble to play Liam Williams and Josh Navidi given they haven’t played since suffering injuries? Wayne Pivac:

The key was to get enough volume into them. We’ve done that and we think they’re both ready to go.

They’ve put in a lot of hard work to get to the start line this weekend.

They’re both very experienced players and they know their body as well as anyone.

We’re confident they can do a job for us.

Q: Dan Biggar is named at fly-half, what’s his state of fitness? WP:

He ran well today. He’s been goal kicking and he’s good to go.

Q: Does he need to prove anymore tomorrow? WP:

No. He ran today and he’ll run tomorrow in the captain’s run. He’s fine.

Q: Are you surprised at the rate of his recovery? WP:

When he got the injury, if it was a Test match, he may have played on, who knows?

At the end of the day, he’s come off, he’s been treated and the medical team have done a great job with him.

Q: What’s the thinking behind the changes at scrum-half? WP:

We think that Gareth had a go last week. Tomos had been playing well up to that point and we think he edges it at the moment.

Looking at the bench, Webby brings a lot of experience and a lot of good communication as well as game management.

Hopefully, he’ll close the game out well for us.

Q: What about the change at loose-head? WP:

Wyn has had all the starts so far. He’s had a hip flexor [problem] and he hasn’t trained for about 10 days and that has counted against him.

Rob had a pretty good experience against England in the Six Nations last year and he’s chomping at the bit for an opportunity.

Young Rhys Carre, as we know, is an up and coming loose-head who has done a fine job at the World Cup.

We’re confident that those two will do a good job for us.

Q: What was your thinking at No.8? WP:

Taulupe started on Sunday [for Bath] and hasn’t trained fully until today. That’s counted against him, he took a bump in the game on Sunday.

That’s just one of the downsides to guys playing outside of Wales, having to play on a Sunday before a Test match.

We think it’s better this weekend for him to come off the bench and have a smaller part in the game.

Q: What have you made of England’s team selection with six forwards on the bench? WP:

We looked at the Ireland game and they’ve done the same split there and it worked well for them. They’ve gone that way again.

They have quality players, whoever comes into that squad.

Q: Are you having to take any extra measures due to the Coronavirus situation? WP:

We get the same advice as the general public. It’s about being clean