FORMER Dragons winger Hallam Amos has been told by Wales boss Warren Gatland to go hunting for the ball when he makes his first appearance of this year’s World Cup on Sunday.

The 25-year-old from Monmouthshire has had to patiently wait for a chance in the tournament while Liam Williams, Josh Adams and George North have joined forces in the back three.

Amos, who left Rodney Parade for Cardiff Blues this summer, gets his chance against Uruguay on Sunday as Wales look to ease past the minnows and secure Pool D top spot, and a quarter-final against France.

The winger scored his first Test try against the South Americans in the last World Cup before picking up a tournament-ending injury in the famous win against hosts England at Twickenham.

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Amos has won 20 caps but his bid to establish himself in the XV has been hindered by injury and he featured just once as a replacement in the Six Nations Grand Slam.

Nonetheless, Gatland insists the speedster has a chance to force his way into the reckoning for the knockout stages.

“Hallam has been around the squad for a number of years and he has probably been one of the most improved players in terms of his game understanding,” said the head coach.

“He’s got some very good skills, footwork, and a left foot as well. Ideally we’d like to give him a run at full-back, but we’ve had a conversation about how important his number of touches is and going looking for the ball and defending well.

“He’s really matured in terms of his talking, communication, and chat. The other thing is the message to these players is to put their hand up and stake a claim for the quarter-finals.

“If performances are good enough on Sunday there is an opportunity for that to happen and we’ve done it in the past.

“It’s not just an idle comment. If someone does go out and performs outstandingly we will look at them for the following week.”

Gatland has, as expected, rung the changes for the clash with the minnows after Wednesday’s bruising victory over Fiji.

Justin Tipuric will captain Wales for the first time while wing Josh Adams and centre Hadleigh Parkes are the sole survivors in the XV.

Adams, who scored a hat-trick of tries against Fiji, suffered a dead leg during that match but is fit to resume and join forces with Leigh Halfpenny and Amos in the back three.

Dragons forward Aaron Wainwright started the first two games of the tournament at blindside but switches to number eight.

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Two of his regional teammates are among the replacements with hooker Elliot Dee having to be content with the role of impact sub again, this time backing up Ryan Elias with Ken Owens rested, and Ross Moriarty covering the back row.

Gatland has opted for a split of six forwards and two backs on the replacements' bench, with scrum-halves Gareth Davies and Tomos Williams providing back division cover.

"We are confident that we have cover, with players being able to move around if we need to," Gatland added.

"We've got to make sure we do a job early on against Uruguay. It's challenging with such a short turnaround, but that's what World Cups are all about."

Wales: L Halfpenny (Scarlets); J Adams (Cardiff Blues), O Watkin (Ospreys), H Parkes (Scarlets), H Amos (Cardiff Blues); R Patchell (Scarlets), A Davies (Ospreys); N Smith (Ospreys), R Elias (Scarlets), D Lewis (Cardiff Blues), B Davies (Ospreys), A Beard (Ospreys), A Shingler (Scarlets), J Tipuric (Ospreys, captain), A Wainwright (Dragons).

Replacements: E Dee (Dragons), R Carre (Saracens), W Jones (Scarlets), J Ball (Scarlets), R Moriarty (Dragons), J Davies (Scarlets), T Williams (Cardiff Blues), G Davies (Scarlets).