March 4 (Reuters) - Wales have made three changes for their Six Nations Championship clash away against Ireland on Friday, including the return of Dan Edwards at flyhalf, as they look to build on a promising display against Scotland last time out.
Edwards comes in for the injured Sam Costelow to marshal the backline, while Ellis Mee replaces Gabriel Hamer-Webb on the wing and James Botham starts at flanker in place of the injured Taine Plumtree.
While Wales lost 26-23 to Scotland in Cardiff to extend their winless run in the Six Nations to 14 games, coach Steve Tandy’s team were the better side for much of that contest and it was arguably their best performance of the last few years.
"This week it's about backing up the performance against Scotland," Tandy said. "Going away from home is a different type of environment for our group, but the focus for us is really improving on what we did last game.
"I thought the defence against Scotland was much improved so we definitely want to double down on that going to Ireland. You see how they keep the ball in possession, they play lots of passes so we know we're going to have to build and improve from the other week."
Scrumhalf Tomos Williams will be alongside Edwards, with Joe Hawkins and Eddie James the centre pairing. Josh Adams, Mee and fullback Louis Rees-Zammit make up the back three.
Aaron Wainwright has been passed fit to play at number eight, with Botham and Alex Mann the loose trio at the back of the scrum.
Dafydd Jenkins and Ben Carter are the lock pairing, and hooker Dewi Lake, who captains the side, has props Rhys Carre and Tomas Francis either side of him.
Wales could hand a debut to centre Louie Hennessey, 21, off the bench after he was named in the match-day 23.
"Louie was unfortunate not to get his opportunity in the autumn, but he's trained really well," Tandy said.
"He had a bit of a bump on his hand at the start of this campaign, but the way he's recovered and put in performances in the training environment has been very impressive."
Ireland have dominated recent meetings with Wales, winning eight of the last nine matches. Wales have not won in Dublin since 2015.
Wales team:
15-Louis Rees-Zammit, 14-Ellis Mee, 13-Eddie James, 12-Joe Hawkins, 11-Josh Adams, 10-Dan Edwards, 9-Tomos Williams; 1-Rhys Carre, 2-Dewi Lake (capt), 3-Tomas Francis, 4-Dafydd Jenkins, 5-Ben Carter, 6-Alex Mann, 7-James Botham, 8-Aaron Wainwright
Replacements: 16-Ryan Elias, 17-Nicky Smith, 18-Archie Griffin, 19-Adam Beard, 20-Olly Cracknell, 21-Kieran Hardy, 22-Jarrod Evans, 23-Louie Hennessey.
(Reporting by Nick Said; Editing by Kate Mayberry)
