Louis Rees-Zammit will make his first international start since returning to rugby union from the NFL when Wales face Japan in Cardiff on Saturday in a match which is crucial to the hosts' hopes of landing a more-favourable 2027 Rugby World Cup draw.

Rees-Zammit resumed his rugby career in August after joining Gallagher Prem side Bristol Bears having spent the previous 18 months with the Kansas City Chiefs and the Jacksonville Jaguars in an attempt to break into American Football.

The 24-year-old winger earned his first Wales cap since the 2023 World Cup quarter-final when he came off the bench in last Sunday's 52-28 loss to Argentina.

But he has now been named in Steve Tandy's starting XV to earn his 34th cap for the second match of the Autumn Nations Series at Principality Stadium.

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