Captain Sam Warburton and Justin Tipuric will start on the flanks for Wales in their Six Nations opener against Ireland on Sunday.

Warburton and Tipuric will form an all-British & Irish Lions back row along with No 8 Taulupe Faletau, while Alun-Wyn Jones, Luke Charteris, Samson Lee, Scott Baldwin and Rob Evans make up the tight five.

In the backline, Tom James, who last played for Wales in November 2010, will win his 10th cap on the wing, forming a new-look back three alongside Gareth Anscombe and George North.

Jonathan Davies and Jamie Roberts combine in the midfield with Dan Biggar and Gareth Davies pairing up again as the halfback combination.

'We are excited by the make-up of the squad, it's very experienced along with one eye looking to the future,' Wales coach Warren Gatland said. 'We have a very experienced bench, with a lot of caps there and hopefully they will come on and make an impact. It's going to be a physical game, two years ago they strangled us out of the match and played well, and we have to rise to that challenge on Sunday.'