Wales have announced their squad to take on France in Friday’s Guinness Six Nations opener, with 19 of the 23 hailing from Guinness PRO14 sides.

Wales head coach Warren Gatland has placed his trust in Cardiff Blues scrum-half Tomos Williams, who has played in ten of the Blues’ 14 games this season and earns a first appearance in the Guinness Six Nations.

Also featuring from the Blues squad is Josh Navidi and Gareth Anscombe – the fly-half has scored 96 points from eight Guinness PRO14 games this season, and continues in the No.10 shirt after an impressive autumn.

SCARLET FEVER

Scarlets boast the greatest number of players in the national squad with seven – the centre partnership being forged in west Wales through Jonathan Davies and Hadleigh Parkes.

Ken Owens will start as hooker alongside clubmate Rob Evans – with Samson Lee and Wyn Jones the front row men on the bench.

Experienced Scarlets scrum-half Gareth Davies will act as replacement for Williams should he pick up a knock.

OSPREYS CORE

Ospreys will be represented at national level by George North, Adam Beard, Justin Tipuric and Wales skipper Alun Wyn Jones – with Owen Watkin amongst the replacements.

Jones has 120 international caps and is the most experienced player in the squads of both his club and country, often one of the most reliable performers in the Guinness Six Nations.

Alongside the skipper will be his Ospreys partner Adam Beard, whose ten Guinness PRO14 appearances are the most of any Osprey player who features in the Wales squad.

Tipuric and North will also start against France, with the two players having scored nine tries between them in the Guinness PRO14 this season.

Industrious flanker Tipuric has been in impressive form for Ospreys so far this campaign – he’s made over 100 tackles in his nine appearances so far and has added three tries to take his total for the region to 26.

DRAGONS REPRESENT

Dragons No.8 Ross Moriarty is one of the headline inclusions in Gatland’s squad, having been out of competitive action for seven weeks but recovered in time for the highly-anticipated curtain-raiser.

At 21, Aaron Wainwright is the youngest player called up to the squad and offers back row cover from the bench.

Wainwright has three international caps thus far and has made an impressive 131 tackles in 10 Guinness PRO14 games – indicating he could offer real defensive impact from the bench.

Elliot Dee is another who will be raring to go if called upon from the replacements bench, where he’s joined by experienced lock Cory Hill.