Wales flyhalf Gareth Anscombe needs game time to get up to speed at the Rugby World Cup but is looking the part ahead of Saturday's Pool C fixture against minnows Portugal at the Stade de Nice, according to coach Warren Gatland.
New Zealand-born Anscombe, 32, missed the 2019 World Cup in Japan when he was injured in the warm-up fixtures and looked as though he would suffer the same fate four years on.
But despite not playing in any of Wales’ pre-tournament fixtures, Gatland has thrown his weight behind the versatile flyhalf and will give him his first minutes against the Portuguese.
"Gareth gets an opportunity and in the past when he has started for Wales he has been excellent. He hasn’t had a lot of rugby, but he is looking sharp," Gatland told reporters on Thursday.
"2019 was obviously disappointing for him and he has had a few injuries since, but he is excited."
Dan Biggar is the first choice number 10 in the squad and started in the bruising 32-26 win over Fiji on Sunday as Wales made a winning start to their campaign.
Anscombe can also play fullback and with Leigh Halfpenny and Liam Williams having had their own injury woes in the recent past, would be a strong third option in the number 15 jersey.
Gatland knows his side will be expected to get a big win over Portugal, who were not involved in the first round of fixtures.
"They are a similar version of Fiji, they play a lot of rugby," he said. "They have exciting players and like to move the ball around. We will make some tweaks to our game in terms of how we want to operate.
"It is one game at a time. We would like to get to a final of the World Cup. Don't write us off. This team is capable of doing something very special. If you are a hard team to beat, things can happen for you."
The general consensus was that Wales got the rub of the green from English referee Matthew Carley against Fiji, but Gatland said they have a few complaints of their own.
"There has been a lot said about us in terms of how unlucky Fiji were, but we have sent a number of clips ourselves to show things that we felt were missed in the game," he said.
