Thursday 27 August 2015 15:56, UK
George North is set to make his first appearance for five months after being named in the Wales team to face Ireland in Dublin on Saturday.
The Northampton wing suffered three concussions last season and has not played since being knocked unconscious during Saints' Aviva Premiership victory over Wasps on March 27.
But he has passed all the required tests and successfully came through a Wales squad training match in north Wales earlier this month.
North will be winning his 50th cap in the World Cup warm-up game, while York-born Exeter prop Tomas Francis will be making his Test debut.
Francis' grandmother hails from the Swansea Valley and he now has a chance to press his World Cup claims ahead of next Monday's final 31-man squad announcement.
Francis will be joined in the front-row by Gethin Jenkins and Ken Owens, while lock Alun-Wyn Jones captains the team, with regular skipper Sam Warburton not involved in the match-day 23 as he has a pinched nerve in his shoulder which is not considered serious.
North teams up in the back-three alongside Leigh Halfpenny and Alex Cuthbert, with Cardiff Blues wing Cuthbert possibly needing a big performance in terms of potential World Cup selection.
Wales head coach Warren Gatland has selected a far stronger team than the one beaten 35-21 by Ireland in Cardiff almost three weeks ago for the Aviva Stadium return.
Also starting are the likes of centres Scott Williams and Jamie Roberts, half-backs Dan Biggar and Rhys Webb, together with experienced back-row campaigners Dan Lydiate and Taulupe Faletau, with Justin Tipuric wearing the No 7 shirt.
Gatland said: "The squad are looking forward to travelling over to Ireland for what is a big warm-up fixture.
"We have trained well over the past few weeks, and Saturday is a chance for a lot of players to get their first taste of rugby this campaign.
"We trimmed the squad down in the middle of August, and the remaining 38 have worked extremely hard.
"It's always a great game in Dublin, and there is an important factor to this match, with the Rugby World Cup squad announced just a few days later."
On Warburton's absence, Gatland added: "We could have played him this weekend. It is just making sure he is 100 per cent right."
Wales complete their World Cup warm-up schedule against Italy at the Millennium Stadium on September 5, before launching their Pool A campaign against Uruguay 15 days later.
Wales: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Scott Williams, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 George North, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Rhys Webb; 1 Gethin Jenkins, 2 Ken Owens, 3 Tomas Francis, 4 Bradley Davies, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (c), 6 Dan Lydiate, 7 Justin Tipuric, 8 Taulupe Faletau.
Replacements: 16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Paul James, 18 Aaron Jarvis, 19 Luke Charteris, 20 James King, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Rhys Priestland, 23 Hallam Amos.
Watch Ireland v Wales live on Sky Sports 1 HD on Saturday from 2.15pm. Catch the match for £6.99 on NOW TV. No contract.
