Steve Tandy has made three changes for his Wales side’s trip to Ireland in round four of the Six Nations, with Ellis Mee returning to the wing.

The other two changes to the Wales starting XV are enforced by injury, with James Botham and Dan Edwards replacing Taine Plumtree and Sam Costelow respectively, after the latter pair picked up fitness issues in round three against Scotland.

The only other change to the matchday squad is Louie Hennessey taking the number 23 shirt, and is in line for an international debut.

Dewi Lake captains the side in the front row, with in-form props Rhys Carre and Tomas Francis continuing their starting births.

Behind them, Dafydd Jenkins and Ben Carter – who both performed very well against Scotland – are once again selected in the engine room. There is a slight re-jig of the back row, with James Botham coming in at openside flanker, with Alex Mann shifting across to blindside.

Aaron Wainwright – who was an injury doubt for this match – makes it through fitness tests to start, with Olly Cracknell providing the back up on the bench.

Dan Edwards resumes his half-back partnership with Gloucester captain Tomos Williams, while Scarlets pair Joe Hawkins and Eddie James make up the centres.

Mee is joined in the back three by Josh Adams and Louis Rees-Zammit, both of whom have started all four games in this campaign.

On the bench, the replacement front row is unchanged, with Ryan Elias, Nicky Smith and Archie Griffin all selected.

Adam Beard, dropped after a difficult performance against France, returns to the bench in place of Freddie Thomas, while Kieran Hardy and Jarrod Evans continue to provide the half-back back-up.

Tandy said: “There are a couple of enforced changes this week due to injury and then Ellis had played well in the opening couple of rounds, so we feel he deserves the opportunity again.”

“This week it’s about backing up the performance against Scotland. Going away from home is a different type of environment for our group, but the focus for us is really improving on what we did last game.

“I thought the defence against Scotland was much improved so we definitely want to double down on that going to Ireland. You see how they keep the ball in possession, they play lots of passes so we know we’re going to have to build and improve from the other week.”

On Louie Hennessey, Tandy added: “Louie was unfortunate not to get his opportunity in the autumn, but he’s trained really well. He had a bit of a bump on his hand at the start of this campaign, but the way he’s recovered and put performances in the training environment has been very impressive. We’re all excited to see Louie go out in Dublin.”

Team News

Ireland

TBA

Wales

Louis Rees-Zammit; Ellis Mee, Eddie James, Joe Hawkins, Josh Adams; Dan Edwards, Tomos Williams; Rhys Carre, Dewi Lake (capt), Tomas Francis; Dafydd Jenkins, Ben Carter; Alex Mann, James Botham, Aaron Wainwright.

Replacements

Ryan Elias, Nicky Smith, Archie Griffin, Adam Beard, Olly Cracknell, Kieran Hardy, Jarrod Evans, Louie Hennessey.

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