Six Nations 2023: Gatland omits veteran Wales trio against Scotland

Alun Wyn Jones, Taulupe Faletau and Justin Tipuric have been left out of the Wales start team for Saturday’s visit to Scotland’s Six Nations.

Warren Gatland has announced the changes to his pack after last week’s tough defeat by Ireland.

It includes first Wales starts for Exeter Chiefs pair Dafydd Jenkins and Christ Tshiunza, while Tommy Reffell completes a redesigned back row.

Ken Owens, Adam Beard and Jack Morgan are the only forwards remaining on the team.

The backline is unchanged, but the omissions in the pack signal the start of a changing of the guard for Wales.

Gatland chose experience in the opening game against Ireland and is using the trip to Murrayfield to bleed new players with one eye on the World Cup later this year.

Former Welsh captains Jones and Tipuric have both been left out of the matchday squad altogether, while their Ospreys team-mate Rhys Davies is ready to make his Test debut off the bench.

Faletau will travel to Edinburgh after being benched, while Gatland is banking on youth as he looks to the long-term future.

The rookie backline of Tshiunza (21), Reffell (23) and Morgan (23) have earned just 20 caps between them, mainly as a substitute, and meet a Scottish outfit that beat England at Twickenham last week.

Gatland said: “We’ve made some changes but tried to maintain some continuity with the same backline.

“Wine [Jones] has worked really hard at camp for the past three weeks and he’s getting a chance.

“Then Dafydd Jenkins comes in the second row and looks a little bit into the future. Christian Tshiunza too. We’re looking at options at eight if Toby Faletau picks up an injury that will cover there, so Jac gets that chance. “

Prop Gareth Thomas is out while Tomas Francis is out with a calf injury sustained in the first half of the 10-34 defeat by Ireland in Cardiff.

Alun Wyn Jones was initially ruled out but was up for selection after medics said it was a blow to the neck rather than the head.

Gatland said: “I was thrilled with the players after we named the team. Of course there were some changes but the rest of the guys were absolutely brilliant when it came to congratulating people. For me that was a really positive aspect of the squad.”

George North fit after taking a few hits against Ireland, while Liam Williams, a try-scorer against Ireland as a late replacement for Leigh Halfpenny, keeps the shirt in an unchanged line of defence.

However, Gatland admits Wales need to find a clinical advantage and improve their discipline against Scotland.

He said: “We’ve tried to focus on the positive and the things that we can address ourselves. We created opportunities last week but weren’t clinical enough [and] we need to start better.

“We gave away some stupid penalties and unforced penalties when we weren’t really under a lot of pressure so again that was an area that we talked about.

“Scotland have experience in this squad so it will be a good test of the improvements we’ve been able to make since last week.”

Wales: L Williams; Adams, North, Hawkins, Dyer; Biggar, T Williams; W Jones, Owens (Captain), Lewis, Jenkins, Beard, Tshiunza, Reffell, Morgan.

Substitute: Baldwin, Carre, Brown, Davies, Faletau, Webb, Patchell, Cuthbert.