Jenkins selected to start All Blacks clash

One week on from helping his nation secure their first home win in over a year, Dafydd Jenkins has been named to start for Wales against New Zealand this weekend.

The game is Wales’ third of the Quilter Nations Series. They welcome the All Blacks to the Principality Stadium on Saturday, 22 November for a 15:10 kick-off.

Head coach Steve Tandy makes a small number of changes to the squad that beat Japan in the 80th minute last weekend when replacement Jarrod Evans slotted a penalty kick in the last play of the game.

Namely, Harri Deaves will make his international debut while former Exeter man Joe Hawkins features in the matchday side for the first time this autumn.

Tandy said: “We obviously want to improve the performance from Japan. I thought we had some outstanding moments against Argentina. We felt we would have liked to have improved more last weekend. It was obviously good to get the win, but we want to improve our own performance against a world-class opposition on Saturday.

“Joe Hawkins is in at 12. We’ve been impressed with his versatility. He can play 10 and 12 and we feel he's that second pair of hands. He's trained really well over the last three weeks, so it's exciting for him to get an opportunity.”

The fixture will be broadcast live on TNT Sports. This is Wales’ penultimate game of the autumn block as they host reigning world champions, South Africa, next weekend.

Replacements: Brodie Coghlan, Gareth Thomas, Archie Griffin, Freddie Thomas, Taine Plumtree, Kieran Hardy, Jarrod Evans, Nick Tompkins