Taulupe Faletau starts Wales’ Rugby World Cup opener against Fiji after recovering from a calf injury with Jac Morgan named captain – but Dewi Lake misses out as five players make tournament debut

Taulupe Faletau has immediately returned to Wales for their World Cup opener, with Jac Morgan named captain but Dewi Lake losing to Fiji.

Key No. 8 Faletau missed all three of his team’s warm-up games due to a calf injury, but is back to full fitness in time to start when it matters in France.

Warren Gatland’s squad traveled from Paris to Bordeaux by train on Thursday, with the head coach instructing his team to face the Pacific Island nation on arrival.

Faletau’s presence in the XV is a huge boost for Wales. Lake’s absence on matchday 23 due to lack of training time is the other big headline.

Ryan Elias starts as hooker in place of Wales co-captain, with Nick Tompkins in the middle and Aaron Wainwright completing the back row alongside Morgan and Faletau.

Dewi Lake will miss the opener against Fiji as he aims to return to full fitness

Gareth Davies starts at number 9 with Tomos Williams on the bench.

Lake has recovered from a knee injury sustained against England at Twickenham last month but has not trained as much as Gatland would have liked.

“The medical team has done a fantastic job getting Dewi back to full fitness,” he said.

“He hasn’t had as much training as the other whores since he got that blow to the knee, so Ryan and Elliot Dee are selected for this competition.”

Wales’ starting line-up for Fiji consists of five players who will make their World Cup debut. Another five players are set to make their first tournament appearance from the bench.

Gatland said: ‘The squad has worked incredibly hard in recent months and has prepared well for Fiji in recent weeks.

“Fiji have a good side with some great individual athletes and they play with a lot more structure now than they may have traditionally.

“We’ve got good clarity about what we want to achieve and the way we want to play this weekend.

“It will be an exciting game on Sunday that we enjoy.

Jac Morgan will captain Wales against Fiji on Sunday night in Bordeaux

Warren Gatland said his players looked sharp in training ahead of a crucial RWC opener

“The guys look sharp. There is a great atmosphere in this group, where players work for each other and enjoy each other’s company.

“We are in a good place and can’t wait to get our World Cup campaign underway.”

George North is partnered with Tompkins in midfield and will make his 17th World Cup appearance in what is his fourth tournament. Davies and Dan Biggar are ranked 9 and 10 respectively.

The back three from Wales are Liam Williams, Louis Rees-Zammit and Josh Adams.

Davies has featured in each of Wales’ last twelve World Cup matches in the 2015 and 2019 competitions, with Biggar on the verge of reaching 100 World Cup points.

He is currently at 97.

Dan Biggar starts at fly-half and needs three more points to reach 100 World Cup points

Gareth Thomas and Tomas Francis start as the two props on either side of Elias, while Will Rowlands and Adam Beard take the second row.

Elliot Dee, Corey Domachowski, Dillon Lewis, Dafydd Jenkins, Tommy Reffell, Tomos Williams, Sam Costelow and Rio Dyer are the replacements.

It means there’s no room in the 23 for veteran operators Leigh Halfpenny and Dan Lydiate.

Fiji will name their team for Wales on Friday after losing the main half to Caleb Muntz for the entire tournament earlier this week due to a knee injury sustained in training.