Ken Owens wins 50th cap as Wales name unchanged squad for France
Wednesday 15 March 2017 10:39, UK
Ken Owens will win his 50th cap against France after Wales name an unchanged side for their Six Nations finale in Paris on Saturday.
Interim head coach Rob Howley has retained the side that beat Ireland 22-9 in Cardiff last Friday.
Owens, who made his international debut at the 2011 Rugby World Cup, lines up alongside Rob Evans and Tomas Francis in the front-row.
Howley said: "I was delighted for the players at Friday's result and performance and they deserve the opportunity to build on that.
"The experience we showed and the intensity we brought to the match was hugely important and that will just as important as we face good France team at home.
"We put pressure on ourselves and turned that pressure into a result and we were pleased with the impact from the bench so will be looking for the same this weekend."
Wales have beaten France five times at the Stade de France, with their last defeat there being a 28-9 reversal in 2011.
If Wales win - and England beat Ireland in Dublin on Saturday - then Howley's men will secure a top-four world ranking place ahead of the 2019 World Cup pool draw in May.
Wales: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Scott Williams, 11 Liam Williams, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Rhys Webb; 1 Rob Evans, 2 Ken Owens, 3 Tomas Francis, 4 Jake Ball, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 6 Sam Warburton, 7 Justin Tipuric, 8 Ross Moriarty.
Replacements: 16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Samson Lee, 19 Luke Charteris, 20 Taulupe Faletau, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Sam Davies, 23 Jamie Roberts.
