New Zealand vs Wales rugby team news: Warren Gatland makes two changes for ‘huge’ Second Test

Seizing his chance: Luke Charteris starts for Wales after impressing in midweek
(Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)
Standard Sport16 June 2016

Wales coach Warren Gatland has made just two changes to his side for the second Test against New Zealand in Wellington on Saturday.

Liam Williams, who impressed from full-back in the 39-21 first-Test defeat in Auckland last weekend, will replace winger George North, who has been ruled out of the series with a hamstring injury. Replacement Rhys Patchell takes the No 15 jersey.

Gatland played several of his fringe players against Waikato Chiefs on Tuesday to give them a chance to push for Test selection. Although Wales were beaten 40-7 by the under-strength Super Rugby side, Luke Charteris, who captained the team, has been rewarded with a place in the second row instead of Bradley Davies, who is among the replacements.

Rhys Priestland comes onto the bench in place of New Zealand-born Gareth Anscombe, who was a late withdrawal from the Chiefs match with injury.

Wales were combative for about 60 minutes of the first Test at Eden Park but were over-run by the All Blacks in the final quarter.

Gatland said: “It is important we go out on Saturday with the confidence to play for 80 minutes in what will be another huge Test match in a packed-out stadium.”

The All Blacks, meanwhile, have made two changes to their starting XV. Israel Dagg comes in at full-back and Ben Smith moves to the wing to take over from Julian Savea, who has been dropped despite scoring his 39th Test try in Auckland.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in