By Paul Jones
Wayne Pivac has denied suggestions Wales have brought back Alun Wyn Jones as a marketing ploy to sell tickets.
The 36-year-old second row has regained fitness from a shoulder injury to come back straight into the side for their final match of the Six Nations at home to Italy on Saturday.
It will be Jones’ 150th cap for Wales – a landmark achievement – while Dan Biggar, who retains the captaincy, will become the seventh Welsh player to reach 100 appearances for his country.
The chance to witness both players run out on such a historic occasion is undoubtedly a marketing opportunity for the Welsh Rugby Union, who were left with 11,000 unsold tickets for last week’s Friday night match at home to France.
But asked whether he had been influenced by any requests from outside the squad to include Jones, Pivac insisted that no-one had leant on him.
“Certainly, (there has been) nothing from the marketing department from the WRU,” said Pivac.
“But I’d like to think it puts extra bums on seats and I would like to think we get a sell-out crowd to recognise Dan’s achievement and Alun Wyn’s achievement, which nobody else on the planet has done.
“To have two guys achieve those milestones on the same day is something special.
Whatever we think of AWJ being parachuted straight into the Wales team for his 150th cap, it’s actually good marketing PR by the WRU to shift some more tickets… pic.twitter.com/FLPoqwgEU5
— Jamie Phillips (@JNPhillips4) March 15, 2022
“It’s a rugby decision, that’s we have decided, and we are very comfortable with the decision.”
Jones hasn’t played since suffering a shoulder injury against New Zealand on October 30, but he will be pitched straight back into action against the Azzurri to win his 150th Welsh cap.
Already the world’s most capped player, Jones will become the first player to win 150 caps for a single country at the Principality Stadium.
It will be his 162nd Test cap, in all, which includes 12 for the British and Irish Lions.
But to make way for his return, Pivac has had to drop Will Rowland to the replacements’ bench, despite the fact that the Dragons forward has been one of Wales’ best players in the tournament.
Pivac added: “There’s a number of guys in the squad we believe can do that (come straight back in).
“It’s the preparation they do coming into camp and then when they’re in camp. He (Jones) has been with us a few weeks and we’ve monitored him.
• Team Announcement •
Here’s your Wales team to face Italy at Principality Stadium in the final round of the #GuinnessSixNations.
➥ Diwrnod enfawr i Alun Wyn Jones a Dan Biggar yn cael eu 150fed a 100fed cap dros Gymru.
TICKETS ⇨ https://t.co/2rl2NHS11t#WALvITA
— Welsh Rugby Union 🏉 (@WelshRugbyUnion) March 15, 2022
He’s trained very well, ticked all the boxes. I think the injection of a few fresh players will be good.
“To be playing 150 Test matches, something no one else on the planet has ever done, just shows he’s a special person. We think he’s one who can come back as he’s done in the past.
Asked whether Rowlands had been dropped to make way for Jones, Pivac added: “He’s going to finish the game and he’ll play a role sometime after half-time, maybe before then.
“It’s one of them where we looked at Will and Adam (Beard). Both have played virtually every minute of the campaign so far and had big workloads coming into the tournament.
“Adam runs our attacking line-out and Will’s been running the defensive line-out. Alun Wyn will take over that and we’ll see what we do with Will in the second-half.”
In all, Pivac has made seven changes to the side defeated by France 13-9 last Friday.
Johnny McNicholl, Louis Rees-Zammit, Willis Halaholo and Gareth Davies are recalled in the backline, while Dewi Lake, Dillon Lewis and last year’s Lions captain Jones are the forwards who come in.
Liam Williams, Alex Cuthbert, Jonathan Davies, Tomos Williams, Ryan Elias, Tomas Francis and Will Rowlands drop out of the starting side.
Alun Wyn Jones as been a man mountain for Wales but let him have his 150 but surely we need to move on & blood future players against Italy. Not seeing much of it in that squad.
— Klopplife🏴⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 19🏆💙 (@Welshboy64) March 15, 2022
Northampton fly-half Biggar will again captain the team and partner scrum-half Gareth Davies, who replaces Tomos Williams, who has a head injury.
Biggar celebrated his 100th international appearance in February’s victory against Scotland, with his Wales caps supplemented by three British and Irish Lions’ Tests.
Pivac added of Biggar, “He’s a champion, isn’t he?
“Dan is somebody that demands high quality training from himself and his team-mates. He works very, very hard at his game.
“He leads by example. He’s everything you want in a leader and a good number 10 in terms of managing and running the game.
“In terms of the captaincy, he’s done very well. He’s grown in terms of the tournament. If you look back from week one to now, he’s handled himself well on the field.
“The feedback has been great. He’s doing well in the training sessions. Real credit to Dan. To play 100 games, it shows resilience.
“The fact that he’s been able to come back from injury and non-selection at times and he’s acquitted himself so well over his career. I’m really, really pleased that he gets to do it in front of a home crowd.”