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Updated Dan Biggar and Liam Williams to start for Wales v Argentina

Biggar has fully recovered from a chest injury
Biggar has fully recovered from a chest injury

Dan Biggar and Liam Williams have been passed fit to start Wales' World Cup quarter-final against Argentina on Saturday.

Biggar has been struggling with a chest injury and Williams was a doubt because of a knee problem, but they have been given the all-clear for the Stade Velodrome showdown and start at out-half and full-back respectively.

There is no place in the 23 for Gareth Anscombe, however, after he was forced to withdraw 45 minutes before kick-off against Georgia last Saturday because of a groin issue.

Taulupe Faletau’s World Cup-ending broken arm sustained in the 43-19 victory over the Georgians has resulted in a reshuffle to the back row.

Aaron Wainwright moves across from blindside flanker to fill the void at number eight created by Faletau’s injury, while skipper Jac Morgan takes the number six shirt.

Tommy Reffell comes in at openside to complete the back row adjustments against the Pumas.

Wales head coach Warren Gatland believes his team have yet to hit top gear despite their pleasing progress through Pool C.

"We had a goal of making the quarter-finals, which we have achieved. Now it’s about building on that momentum," Gatland said.

"All our preparation has been geared to getting to this spot and we’re very much relishing the opportunity.

"We’re expecting another tough encounter this weekend against a physical Argentina side

"We haven’t had the perfect performance yet, but we have shown that we are a hard team to beat."

Meanwhile, Argentina have shifted around their loose forward trio and brought back veteran scrum-half Tomas Cubelli (above) in two changes from last weekend’s win over Japan, coach Michael Cheika announced on Thursday.

Pablo Matera tore his hamstring in the 39-27 win in Nantes that ensured Argentina’s progress to the knockout stages and is replaced by Facundo Isa in the team.

But Isa will play at number eight against Wales with Juan Martin Gonzalez moving to the open side in place of Matera for the clash in Marseille.

Cubelli replaces Gonzalo Bertranou, with the Welsh-based Bertranou not making the matchday 23 as Lautaro Bazan Velez was named as the replacement scrum-half on the bench for a second successive game.


Wales: Liam Williams; Louis Rees Zammit, George North, Nick Tompkins, Josh Adams; Dan Biggar, Gareth Davies; Gareth Thomas, Ryan Elias, Tomas Francis; Will Rowlands, Adam Beard; Jac Morgan (capt), Tommy Reffell, Aaron Wainwright.

Replacements: Dewi Lake, Corey Domachowski, Dillon Lewis, Dafydd Jenkins, Christ Tshiunza, Tomos Williams, Sam Costelow, Rio Dyer.

Argentina: Juan Cruz Mallia; Emiliano Boffelli, Lucio Cinti, Santiago Chocobares, Mateo Carreras; antiago Carreras, Tomas Cubelli; Thomas Gallo, Julian Montoya (capt), Francisco Gomez Kodela; Guido Petti, Tomas Lavanini; Juan Martin Gonzalez, Marcos Kremer, Facundo Isa.

Replacements: Agustín Creevy, Joel Sclavi, Eduardo Bello, Matias Alemanno, Rodrigo Bruni, Lautaro Bazan Velez, Nicolas Sanchez, Matías Moroni.

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Follow a live blog of Ireland v New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals on Saturday with kick-off 8pm. Listen to live radio commentary on RTÉ Radio 1.

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