"Gatland's Bolters" - The 3 Uncapped Wales Players to Debut Against England at Twickenham

The Scarlets duo of Joe Roberts and Kemsley Mathias are called up, along with Ospreys centre Kieran Williams. They will be under the guidance of new Wales captain Dewi Lake, with the hooker awarded the armband in the absence of back-rower Jac Morgan.

Just three players return from the side that beat England, in their opening match of the 2023 Summer Nations Series. New Zealand born loose forward Taine Plumtree gets his first test start, as he is boosted up from the bench. Exeter Chiefs flanker Christ Tshiunza goes the opposite way and is dropped to the replacements, where he lines up along with veteran halfback Dan Biggar.

So, ahead of this Saturday's hotly anticipated re-match at Twickenham, here is everything you need to know about the three uncapped Welsh players, who are ready for their test match debuts.

The only debutant to be named in Gatland's starting line-up this weekend, Joe Roberts is nailed on to make his test match debut at outside centre, in the stadium that England fans call 'HQ'. Roberts will be taking over the mantle from George North, in what is a seismic step up for the 23-year-old, given North's impressive try-scoring performance last weekend.

Roberts will partner-up in the midfield alongside Saracens centre Nick Tompkins, with the 27-cap playmaker set to guide the young Scarlet through the ropes. North took the debuting Max Llewellyn under his wing in the first test against England, with Roberts set to learn what it takes to run the show at Twickenham, from the 2023 Premiership Rugby Champion.

Roberts' Scarlets breakthrough came with three sporadic appearances in the 2020/21 Rainbow Cup. He then pushed on to establish his presence amongst the senior squad, and made 13 appearances across the 2022/23 United Rugby Championship and EPCR Challenge Cup. Roberts started 12 of these matches, and even grabbed himself a senior try against eventual URC Champions Munster back in March. A hard-hitting, ball-playing centre with a tricky step and strong fend, Roberts is ready to make good on his test debut opportunity, and cause the England back-line some serious problems.

Loosehead prop Kemsley Mathias is a powering presence in the Scarlets front row. A strong scrummager on the left side of the pack, Mathias is also a hard-working ball carrier in the loose, who digs deep to make the hard yards. The 24-year-old made his Scarlets breakthrough in the 2020/21 Pro14 season, as he made six appearances off-the-bench to hone his craft.

Mathias grabbed his first Scarlets try in a tough defeat to Ulster, and built on this momentum with his first starts for the Llanelli club in the 2021/22 campaign. However the front-rower really came into his own last season, and established his presence in the Scarlets pack. He made 18 appearances across the URC and Challenge Cup, and started in 12 of them.

Mathias was apart of the same Wales U20s set up as Joe Roberts, however the prop featured far more than his co-debutant teammate. Mathias made nine appearances for the Wales U20s, as he starred in the 2018 U20s Six Nations and 2019 U20s Championship. The prop is a stacked front-rower at 121kgs, and is ready to mix it up against Kyle Sinckler, Dan Cole or Will Stuart on the England tight-head.

Ospreys centre Kieran Williams has had to bide his time for a Wales call-up, as the 26-year-old has battled against a fierce pecking order to get this shot. With the upcoming departure of former Ospreys teammate Gareth Anscombe to Suntory Sungoliath in Japan after the Rugby World Cup, the door will open up for Williams (and Joe Roberts) for an extended run in the Welsh midfield for the 2024 Six Nations.

Williams will be chomping at the bit to come on for his debut, and he could well replace fellow debutant Roberts in the centre channel. However, the Ospreys man is better equipped to the inside centre shirt, so could well form a debut-partnership with Roberts outside of him in the latter stages at Twickenham. Williams' debut for the Swansea side came in the 2017/18 Pro 14 against Zebre, before he followed this up with two more appearances that year in the Anglo-Welsh Cup.

Williams has scored 11 tries throughout his Ospreys career, with his best try-scoring season coming in the 2020/21 campaign. Williams dotted down for five tries, across 18 matches in the Pro 14, Rainbow Cup and Challenge Cup. His latest season at the Liberty Stadium saw him start 11 out of 12 matches, and grab three tries for the South Wales side.