Wales press conference Live as Matt Sherratt names team for first Japan Test

Matt Sherratt has named his Wales team to take on Japan this Saturday in Kitakyushu, opting to hold the experience of Aaron Wainwright and Tommy Reffell back on the bench.

Alex Mann and Josh Macleod are preferred to the experienced back-rowers, as Sherratt opts for a 6-2 split on the bench to deal with the expected heat and humidity on Saturday. There are just four survivors in the starting XV from the one that ended the Six Nations against England - with Nicky Smith, Taulupe Faletau, Ben Thomas and Blair Murray keeping their jerseys.

Wales take on the Brave Blossoms at Mikuni World Stadium this weekend as they look to end a 17-Test losing run.

Defeat to Japan would see Wales slide down to 14th in the rankings, falling behind Saturday's opponents as well as Samoa.

Having named his side, Sherratt will now face the media - with that press conference set to take place at 7am UK time.

You can follow all the updates from that in our live blog below.

Japan: Takuro Matsunaga; Kippei Ishida, Dylan Riley, Shogo Nakano, Malo Tuitama; Seungsin Lee, Shinobu Fujiwara; Yota Kamimori, Mamoru Harada, Shuhei Takeuchi, Epineri Uluiviti, Warner Deans, Michael Leitch (c), Jack Cornelsen, Amato Fakatava.

Replacements: Hayate Era, Sena Kimura, Keijiro Tamefusa, Waisake Raratubua, Ben Gunter, Shuntaro Kitamura, Ichigo Nakakusu, Halatoa Vailea.

Wales: Blair Murray; Tom Rogers, Johnny Williams, Ben Thomas, Josh Adams; Sam Costelow, Kieran Hardy; Nicky Smith, Dewi Lake, Keiron Assiratti, Ben Carter, Teddy Williams, Alex Mann, Josh Macleod, Taulupe Faletau.

Replacements: Liam Belcher, Gareth Thomas, Archie Griffin, James Ratti, Aaron Wainwright, Tommy Reffell, Rhodri Williams, ⁠Joe Roberts.

Live updates: