A PONTYBEREM scrum half has been named on the bench for Wales in the Six Nations clash with England.

328-year-old Kieran Hardy was not chosen in the squad for last week’s narrow defeat to Scotland but has been called into the matchday 23 for the England clash. Tomos Williams – who was a replacement against Scotland – starts at scrum half.

Winger Josh Adams – who started his rugby career at Hendy RFC – retains his place on the wing.

Elsewhere in the team, George North returns to the line up and will make his 50th Six Nations appearance.

Alex Mann – who made his debut off the bench and scored his first senior try – will start ay blindside flanker. A number of the substitutes from last weekend’s second half comeback have also earned starting spots including the aforementioned Mann and Williams, as well as hooker Elliot Dee, tight head prop Kieron Assiratti and fly half Ioan Lloyd.

The side will again be captained by Dafydd Jenkins. On the bench, prop Archie Griffin could make his first senior appearance, with Cai Evans in line to make his Six Nations debut.

Head coach Warren Gatland said: “We’ve been critical and tough on ourselves this week. That first half was nowhere near the standards we expect. We simply cannot start the same way this Saturday.

“We showed in the second half against Scotland what we are capable of. Now it’s about building on that performance and playing with some tempo from the off.

“We’ve made a few changes to the starting line-up this weekend which gives opportunities to the players coming in. We need to be accurate and keep our discipline.

“This is a massive game, not only because of the history and what it means to everyone in Wales. But it’s an opportunity to get things on track a bit more. England are in a rebuilding phase. We’ll go there with a lot of confidence we can build on that second half and belief.”

Wales team to face England at Twickenham on Saturday, February 10 (live on ITV and S4c, 4.45pm kick off: 15 Cameron Winnett, 14 Josh Adams, 13 George North, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Ioan Lloyd, 9 Tomos Williams, 1 Gareth Thomas, 2 Elliot Dee, 3 Keiron Assiratti, 4 Dafydd Jenkins, 5 Adam Beard, 6 Alex Mann, 7 Tommy Reffell, 8 Aaron Wainwright.

Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Corey Domachowski, 18 Archie Griffin, 19 Will Rowlands, 20 Taine Basham, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Cai Evans, 23 Mason Grady.