Jamie Roberts and Rhys Priestland have overcome injuries and are fit to face Ireland in their first match of the Six Nations tournament on Sunday (UK time) in Dublin.
Coach Warren Gatland delayed the announcement of the team to Friday (February 3) to allow for Cardiff Blues centre Roberts and Scarlets fly-half Priestland to recover from their knee injuries.
However, back row Dan Lydiate's ankle injury means he will be replaced by former skipper Ryan Jones.
Ospreys hooker Huw Bennett will win his 50th cap on Sunday.
Centre Roberts said after a training session on Friday: "It's been a race against time really to get fit for this one and just massively pleased to, you know, get the opportunity to wear the red shirt again in Dublin and you know there's not really a bigger game to kick off, you know, our campaign this year."
Gethin Jenkins, Luke Charteris, Alun Wyn Jones and former skipper Matthew Rees are all sidelined.
In the absence of Jenkins, Saracens' Rhys Gill will start at loosehead for only his second cap, two years after making his debut in Ireland, while Bradley Davies and Ian Evans link for a strong second-row combination.
Wales beat Ireland in a world cup quarter-final last year, but captain Sam Warburton said that result did not matter to the Welsh now -- although the Irish might use memories of the defeat to spur them on.
"I think the players are quite familiar now with what Wales-Ireland Tests are like. We played them twice last year and then against the regions, quite a few times at Leinster and Munster. So I think the players know what it is going to be like really on Sunday. They (Ireland) might use it as motivation, but I don't think we will, no," said Warburton.
Wales:
15. Leigh Halfpenny
14. Alex Cuthbert
13. Jonathan Davies
12. Jamie Roberts
11. George North
10. Rhys Priestland
9. Michael Phillips
1. Rhys Gill
2. Huw Bennett
3. Adam Jones
4. Bradley Davies
5. Ian Evans
6. Ryan Jones
7. Sam Warburton
8. Toby Faletau
Replacements:
16. Ken Owens
17. Paul James
18. Andy Powell
19. Justin Tipuric
20. Lloyd Williams
21. James Hook
22. Scott Williams
Reuters