The last time No. 8 Taulupe Faletau appeared for Wales was also the last time it won a rugby test.
October 2023, a long 16 months ago.
While Faletau has been absent, Wales has lost every test, a national record 13 in a row.
He was welcomed back in the starting side on Thursday against Italy in Rome in the Six Nations on Saturday.
“He's ready to go. A confidence boost,” Wales coach Warren Gatland said in Nice, France, where the squad has been training since Saturday.
“He brings experience and X-factor. We know what a quality player he's been for Wales. Having him back gives us confidence.”
Wales is desperate to end the losing run, and Gatland's head is on the block. They opened the Six Nations last Friday in Paris and lost to title favorite France 43-0, the first tournament game in which Wales failed to score in 27 years.
Faletau played his 104th and last cap for Wales in October 2023, when they beat Georgia 43-19 in Nantes, France, to clean sweep their Rugby World Cup pool.
But he broke his arm in the game. In his comeback club match in April, he broke his shoulder. He didn't play again until last December. A knee issue made him withdraw before the France game last Friday, and he's finally available.
A fourth British and Irish Lions tour at the end of the season could be on the cards for Faletau, but at 34 with his history of injuries, his test future is murky.
“It's the million dollar question,” Gatland said.
“He's trained well. We had him in the autumn and he has taken a significant part in training. He looked really sharp. He wasn't quite right last week with his knee. It's been tough for him. We are looking for some of those special traits he has to try and inspire people around him.”
Faletau returns to a team with only 11 survivors of the 23 who played in the Georgia win 16 months ago.
Inside center Eddie James will make his first start in his fourth test. He debuted against South Africa last June. Wales hope his 1.93-meter (6-foot-4) frame can break the gain-line in Rome that Wales failed to do enough of in Paris.
AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
FILE - Wales' Taulupe Faletau, center, runs into New Zealand's Codie Taylor, right, during the rugby union international match between Wales and New Zealand at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff Wales, Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira, File)
BOSTON (AP) — Victor Wembanyama scored 16 of his 21 points in the second half, including a game-sealing jumper with 19.2 seconds left, and the San Antonio Spurs beat the Boston Celtics 100-95 on Saturday night.
De’Aaron Fox also finished with 21 points for the Spurs and Keldon Johnson added 18 points and 10 rebounds. San Antonio won its second straight after losing two in a row.
Derrick White led Boston with 29 points and Jaylen Brown had 27. The Celtics lost for just the third time in 12 games.
The game was tied at 84 before Baylor Scheierman’s corner 3-pointer pushed Boston ahead with just under seven minutes left. White followed with a driving basket before the Spurs went on a 9-2 spree, taking a 93-91 lead on Johnson’s 3-pointer with 2:14 left.
After Brown’s layup tied it, Wembanyama’s fadeaway jumper pushed San Antonio back in front with 1:33 to go.
Brown was then stripped of the ball near midcourt by Fox, and Julian Champagnie converted a putback of his own miss to make it 97-93 with 41 seconds left.
Wembanyama’s left-wing jumper made it 99-95.
Playing his third straight game after missing a pair with a sore knee, Wembanyama didn’t score his first points until hitting a 3 from the top midway into the second quarter.
But he got going in the second half, scoring nine consecutive points for San Antonio midway into the third quarter, bringing the Spurs back from a nine-point deficit to tie it on his three-point play.
CAVALIERS 146, TIMBERWOLVES 134
CLEVELAND (AP) — Donovan Mitchell scored 28 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers took control in the second half for a victory over Minnesota on that snapped the Timberwolves’ four-game winning streak.
Mitchell also had four 3-pointers as the Cavaliers had five players score at least 20 points. Evan Mobley had 24 points, Jaylon Tyson scored 23 off the bench and Darius Garland added 22.
Sam Merrill had 20 points and set a franchise record with at least five 3-pointers in four straight games.
The 146 points are the fourth most the Cavaliers have scored in a regulation game. They scored 148 in a 33-point victory over Washington on Nov. 7.
PACERS 123, HEAT 99
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Andrew Nembhard had 29 points and nine assists, Aaron Nesmith added 12 points and nine rebounds before an early exit and Indiana routed Miami.
Indiana matched its longest winning streak of the season with a rare second straight victory, this time taking the easy route. The Pacers never trailed and held a double-digit lead for most of the game. The Pacers made 17 3-pointers, one short of their season high, with Nembhard matching his season best with four.
Backup Micah Potter made four 3s and finished with 14 points. Jarace Walker had 13 points.
Tyler Herro had 21 points, seven rebounds and four assists on a night Miami shot just 39.1% from the field. Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 16 points, and Bam Adebayo had 13 points and nine rebounds. Miami has lost three of its last four and missed its first 11 3s on Saturday.
The game tipped less than 24 hours after another Miami-Indiana contest was set up in college football’s national championship game. And just like Friday night’s Hoosiers victory over Oregon, the Pacers wasted no time setting the tone — or running out to a big lead.
They used first-quarter runs of 12-2 and 9-0 to build an early 28-12 cushion. Miami trailed 36-18 entering the second quarter.
CLIPPERS 98, PISTONS 92
DETROIT (AP) — Kawhi Leonard scored 26 points and John Collins added 25 as Los Angeles rallied to beat short-handed Detroit.
The Clippers trailed by 19 points in the first half and 14 in the fourth quarter before finishing the game on a 28-8 run. Detroit turned the ball over 12 times in the quarter.
James Harden added 19 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for Los Angeles, which has won nine of 11.
The Pistons played without Cade Cunningham (wrist), Isaiah Stewart (illness), Tobias Harris (hip) and Jalen Duren (ankle). That left Detroit without its top three scorers, three of their top four rebounders and their top three shot blockers. Cunningham also has 321 assists — the only player who entered Saturday’s action with more than 100.
Duncan Robinson scored 20 points, but took just one shot in the second half. Ron Holland II scored 16 and Tolu Smith added nine points and a career-high 14 rebounds.
BULLS 125, MAVERICKS 107
CHICAGO (AP) — Coby White scored 22 points, Ayo Dosunmu had 20 and Chicago beat Dallas to snap a three-game losing streak.
The Bulls put seven players in double figures, outscored the Mavericks 38-8 in fast-break points and never trailed. Nikola Vucevic and Matas Buzelis each added 15 points as Chicago shot 51.5% from the field.
The Mavericks began the game without the injured Anthony Davis and lost coach Jason Kidd midway through the first quarter of it after he was ejected for arguing with referee Scott Foster.
Ryan Nembhard had 16 points and six assists for the Mavericks. Rookie star Cooper Flagg finished with just 11 points and one rebound, shooting 4 for 13.
Dallas lost its second straight after winning two in a row. Davis sustained ligament damage in his left hand in the Mavericks’ loss to Utah on Thursday.
HORNETS 150, JAZZ 95
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Brandon Miller scored 18 points, LaMelo Ball had 17 and Charlotte built a 47-point lead in the first half of a rout against Utah.
The Hornets bounced back from a pair of frustrating losses in a big way, having fallen to Toronto by one point and Indiana by two in their last two games. Charlotte pounded the NBA champion Thunder by 27 in Oklahoma City before those defeats, previously the Hornets’ largest victory of the season.
Tre Mann led the Hornets with 20 points in 12 minutes off the bench. Miles Bridges and Collin Sexton each scored 15 in a game Charlotte led by 57 in the second half.
Ryan Kalbrenner and Grant Williams returned from injuries for Charlotte, which outscored Utah by 45 points behind the 3-point line in the first half. The Hornets were 16 for 36 while the Jazz hit one of their 12 attempts.
Brice Sensabaugh scored 26 points for the Jazz, who rested leading scorer Lauri Markkanen and were without injured starting center Jusuf Nurkic.
Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) grabs a defensive rebound against San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
