George North will move back to wing to accommodate Nick Tompkins at outside centre as the only changes to the Wales side to face Ireland in their Six Nations clash in Dublin on Saturday.
North started last weekend’s 42-0 demolition of Italy at centre, but Tompkins made such an impact off the bench on his international debut that coach Wayne Pivac has shuffled his options and will hand him his first start for Wales.
North takes the place of Johnny McNicholl, who drops to the bench, with the rest of the back three made up of fullback Leigh Halfpenny and last weekend’s hat-trick hero Josh Adams on the other wing.
“We’ve made just one change after a winning start last weekend,” Pivac said in a statement.
“Nick comes into the side, I thought he played exceptionally well when he came on last week so he deserves the start. George, who played really well last weekend at centre, moves back out to the wing.
“Momentum is important in the Championship, it was nice to get a good winning start under our belts and hopefully we can build on that through the tournament.”
Wales completed a Grand Slam in the Six Nations last year, but have lost three of their last four games against the Irish.
Wales starting XV to face Ireland:
Leigh Halfpenny, George North, Nick Tompkins, Hadleigh Parkes, Josh Adams, Dan Biggar, Tomos Williams, Taulupe Faletau, Justin Tipuric, Aaron Wainwright, Alun Wyn Jones (captain), Jake Ball, Dillon Lewis, Ken Owens, Wyn Jones.
Replacements: Ryan Elias, Rhys Carre, Leon Brown, Adam Beard, Ross Moriarty, Gareth Davies, Owen Williams, Johnny McNicholl.