Costelow returns as Wales make one change for Ireland clash

Fly-half Sam Costelow has been named in the Wales XV to face Ireland in the Six Nations in the only change from the starting side that lost to England.

Costelow comes in for Ioan Lloyd in a straight swap, with the Scarlets playmaker dropping to the bench in Dublin.

Wales are still searching for their first win of the Championship after back-to-back defeats at home to Scotland and away at Twickenham.

But the recovered Costelow has been reinstated after missing the 16-14 defeat in London and will earn his 10th cap in the Irish capital.

Back-row Mackenzie Martin could win his first cap from the bench, while tight-head prop Dillon Lewis features for the first time this year in the matchday squad.

“We are excited to go out to Dublin and test ourselves against one of the leading sides in world rugby. It’s a challenge we are relishing,” said Wales head coach Warren Gatland.

“We’ve made steps in the last couple of games and now it’s about building on that, learning from those experiences and taking that into this weekend.

“It’s about continuing to work hard, looking for accuracy in our performance across 80 minutes and also keeping our discipline.”

Wales face Ireland at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday, February 24, with kick-off at 14:15 local time.

The Irish head into the game on a high after making a perfect start to their Grand Slam title defence.

15 Cameron Winnett, 14 Josh Adams,13 George North, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Tomos Williams; 1 Gareth Thomas, 2 Elliot Dee, 3 Keiron Assiratti, 4 Dafydd Jenkins, 5 Adam Beard, 6 Alex Mann, 7 Tommy Reffell, 8 Aaron Wainwright

Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Corey Domachowski, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Will Rowlands, 20 Mackenzie Martin, 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Ioan Lloyd, 23 Mason Grady

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