Wales head coach Steve Tandy has named a formidable centre partnership of Max Llewellyn and Eddie James for Saturday's Nations Championship opener against Japan at Principality Stadium (16:40 GMT). The selection signals a shift towards physicality, with the duo forming one of Wales' largest midfield combinations in recent memory.

Llewellyn, standing at 6ft 6in and weighing 16st 12lbs, joins James, who is 6ft 4in and 16st 3lbs, in a move that sees Tandy move away from his previous preference for a more traditional ball-playing inside centre. Llewellyn, son of former Wales lock Gareth, will wear the number 12 jersey, a position he has previously expressed a preference for despite playing mostly at outside centre for Gloucester.

Seven Changes from South Africa Defeat

Tandy has made seven personnel changes from the side that suffered a 43-0 loss to South Africa in July. Sam Costelow gets the nod at fly-half ahead of Dan Edwards, while Josh Adams and Louis Rees-Zammit are named on the wings, with Blair Murray at full-back. Up front, props Nicky Smith and Archie Griffin join captain Dewi Lake, while Dafydd Jenkins has recovered from a knee injury to resume his partnership with Ben Carter. The back row consists of Alex Mann, Jac Morgan, and Aaron Wainwright.

Nine of the starting XV, including six of the eight forwards, ply their trade in England, with three Scarlets players, two from Cardiff, and one from Dragons. Notably, no Ospreys players are in the starting lineup, although half-backs Edwards and Reuben Morgan-Williams are among the replacements.

"There's lots of competition for positions within the squad, which is where we want to be," Tandy said. "We're excited to be back at home. We want to go out there on Saturday, put our mark on the match and start the next phase in our Nations Championship campaign strongly."

This will be Tandy's sixth different centre partnership in his 13th international in charge. Joe Hawkins or Ben Thomas had been given the number 12 jersey in the previous 12 internationals, but Thomas is out with a calf injury and Hawkins has been left out of the squad entirely.

Llewellyn, who played most of his early senior rugby at inside centre for Cardiff before moving to Gloucester, has only worn the 12 shirt once for his club this season. James, a natural 12 who came through the Scarlets, is seen by Tandy as a future 13 for Wales.

Wales began their Nations Championship campaign in July with a win over Fiji before defeats to Argentina and South Africa. After Japan, they host New Zealand and Australia before travelling to Twickenham for the final weekend of November. Both Wales and Japan currently sit fifth in their respective hemisphere tables, with Japan having beaten Italy but lost to Ireland and France in their opening three games.

Wales team: Murray; Rees-Zammit, James, Llewellyn, Adams; Costelow, Tomos Williams; Smith, Lake (capt), Griffin, Jenkins, Carter, Mann, Morgan, Wainwright.

Replacements: Elias, Carre, Francis, Teddy Williams, Botham, Morgan-Williams, D Edwards, Hennessey.