Wales coach Steve Tandy rings the changes for France encounter

The showdown at the Principality Stadium is set to bring down the curtain on Round Two, with Ireland v Italy and Scotland v England taking place on Saturday afternoon.

It will be Wales' first home match of this year's Championship as they look to bounce back from the hammering at the Allianz Stadium, where England ran out 48-7 victors.

Two of the changes come in the front-row where loosehead prop Rhys Carre and tighthead prop Tomas Francis are selected alongside captain and hooker Dewi Lake up front.

Dafydd Jenkins and Adam Beard continue at lock against stars Mickael Guillard and Charles Ollivon. France also boast Thibaud Flament and Emmanuel Meafou on the bench.

There's a switch up in the back-row though as Olly Cracknell starts at number eight for his Six Nations bow, meaning that Aaron Wainwright moves over to blindside flanker and Alex Mann switches to openside flank. That sees Josh MacLeod drop out of the matchday 23 altogether, with Taine Plumtree retaining jersey 20 this weekend.

Moving into the backline - Tomos Williams and Dan Edwards continue at scrum-half and fly-half respectively and will be crucial to Welsh hopes of causing a massive upset.

There's an alteration at inside centre where Joe Hawkins is picked alongside club teammate Eddie James at outside centre, making his first appearance of this Championship.

The team is completed by Louis Rees-Zammit at 15 with Josh Adams and Ellis Mee on the wings in an unchanged back three who have a job stopping their opposite numbers.

There are five forwards and three backs among Tandy's replacements as Ryan Elias is in line to make his first appearance in red since the 2024 Autumn Nations Series. The hooker is joined by loosehead prop Nicky Smith and tighthead prop Archie Griffin, who revert to bench duty this weekend to complete the front-row cover for the Welsh.

Ben Carter and Plumtree are the other forward replacements while fly-half Jarrod Evans is selected among the replacement backs along with Mason Grady and Kieran Hardy.

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Tandy said: "There are a few changes for this week. A lot of it is based on who we are playing and then Olly Cracknell has done a full training week this week and also played really well in the autumn.

"We were bitterly disappointed with the performance last week. We've addressed it in meetings. The boys were open and honest around the fact that we didn't put ourselves on the game.

"We felt we played into England's hands a little bit and obviously the discipline was hugely disappointing. It's a massive lesson for us. It's something we need to correct and put more of our game out on the field on Sunday."

On this being Wales' first home game of the Six Nations, Tandy added: "We're excited to get back to Principality Stadium. We had four games in the autumn and the crowd was incredible.

"I know I've spoken a lot about the New Zealand game – the crowd, the energy it brought and the response from players. The supporters mean a huge amount to us and they do inspire the players. Our aim on the weekend is to inspire the fans too."

Wales team to face France

Wales: 15 Louis Rees-Zammit, 14 Ellis Mee, 13 Eddie James, 12 Joe Hawkins, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Dan Edwards, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Olly Cracknell, 7 Alex Mann, 6 Aaron Wainwright, 5 Adam Beard, 4 Dafydd Jenkins, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Dewi Lake (c), 1 Rhys Carre

Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Archie Griffin, 19 Ben Carter, 20 Taine Plumtree, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Mason Grady

Date: Sunday, 15 February, 2026

Venue: Principality Stadium, Cardiff

Kick-off: 15:10 GMT

Referee: James Doleman (NZR)

Assistant Referees: Christophe Ridley (RFU), Sam Grove-White (SRU)

TMO: Richard Kelly (NZR)

FPRO: Mike Adamson (SRU)