Wales and Italy officially raise the curtain on the 2020 Six Nations as they face off in Cardiff on Saturday.
The hosts - World Cup semi-finalists in Japan last year - are the defending Grand Slam champions and now begin a new era under Wayne Pivac, who took the reins following the end of Warren Gatland's memorable 11-year stint in charge.
Meanwhile, Italy are under the interim management of Franco Smith after the departure of Conor O'Shea as they search for their first win in the Six Nations since 2015.
Date: Saturday, February 1st, 2020
Venue: Principality Stadium, Cardiff
Kick-off time: 2:15pm GMT
Team news and line-ups
Wales are without a host of players for the duration of the tournament including Jonathan Davies, Gareth Anscombe, Hallam Amos and Tomas Francis, while Liam Williams and Josh Navidi miss out against Italy.
George North is selected to play at outside centre with Scarlets' Johnny McNicholl making his international debut on the wing and Saracens' former England youth international Nick Tompkins earning a spot on the bench.
Rhys Webb is also named among the replacements with his Wales eligibility restored, but Tomos Williams gets the nod at scrum-half and Dillon Lewis is drafted in at tighthead prop.
After an injury nightmare that has seen him ruled out of international rugby since early 2018, Taulupe Faletau is back at no8, though there is no room in the squad for uncapped Gloucester wing Louis Rees-Zammit.
Wales XV: Halfpenny; McNicholl, North, Parkes, Adams; Biggar, T Williams; Wyn Jones, Owens, Lewis; Ball, AW Jones (c); Wainwright, Tipuric, Faletau
Replacements: Elias, R Evans, Brown, Hill, Moriarty, Webb, J Evans, Tompkins
Italy's starting line-up features two fly-halves, with Tommaso Allan at 10 and Carlo Canna in midfield.
Niccolo Cannone wins his first cap in the second row and Leonardo Sarto is recalled on the wing.
There is no Sergio Parisse for the Azzurri, with the iconic no8 - who has been succeeded as captain by hooker Luca Bigi - only set to feature in one or both of Italy's home matches against Scotland and England as he bids farewell to international rugby.
Italy XV: Minozzi; Sarto, Morisi, Canna, Bellini; Allan, Braley; Zilocchi, Bigi (c), Lovotti; Zanni, Cannone; Negri, Polledri, Steyn
Replacements: Zani, Fischetti, Riccioni, Lazzaroni, Budd, Licata, Palazzani, Hayward
Prediction: Wales win
The selection of North in the centres hasn't exactly gone down a storm in some quarters, while there were plenty of people that hoped to see the exciting Rees-Zammit given an early introduction to the Test area.
However, Wales still boast more than enough firepower to easily overcome an Italy team whose long winless run in this tournament is likely to be extended by another year.
Betting odds
Match odds
- Wales to win: 1/33
- Italy to win: 29/1
- Draw: 129/1
Odds provided by Betfair Exchange. Click here for more odds.
TV channel and live stream, and online coverage
ITV and the BBC are sharing broadcasting rights for the Six Nations once again this year, with Wales vs Italy live on BBC One, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website.
You can also follow all the action with Standard Sport's LIVE blog.
Head to Head record and history (h2h)
Wales have won 24 of their 27 previous meetings against Italy, with the Azzurri picking up rare victories in 2003 and 2007.
The sides also played out an 18-all draw in 2006.
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