Wales coach Warren Gatland has named half a dozen Ospreys to start against New Zealand at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday, with a further four among the replacements.
Lee Byrne, James Hook, Mike Phillips start in the back line, while the three Joneses, Adam, Alun Wyn and Ryan are included in the pack. On the bench, Gatland includes Huw Bennett, Paul James, Jonathan Thomas and Andrew Bishop.
Blues wing Tom James goes straight into the starting line-up while both Ryan and Dan Lydiate (Dragons) shift positions in a back row re-shuffled to accommodate Blues flanker Sam Warburton on the openside and Jones at No 8.
Warburton’s return from injury is a boost to head coach Warren Gatland’s squad, as is his regional colleague Gethin Jenkins’ return to fitness – both from calf injuries – in time to face the All Blacks.
“Back row is one position where we have a great deal of competition for places, with Dan Lydiate going particularly well at the moment,”said Gatland.
“Sam Warburton gets his chance to start and Ryan Jones, having not played a lot of rugby this season, has a chance to play at No 8, but we are also conscious that we have a strong bench to call on to come on and make an impact in that area.
“With the likes of Martyn Williams, Andy Powell and Jonathan Thomas all giving us options.
“We have tried something a little different in that area with a five/two split as we know we will need to be at maximum intensity for the full 80 minutes against the All Blacks.
“Gethin Jenkins is back in the front row, Matthew Rees also returns and with Adam Jones in the best shape I’ve seen him in we know we are strong there.
“We are very happy with the tight five and we have two young physical locks who are getting better with every game.
“Tom James was injured when we named the squad at the start of the series, but he did well for the Blues last Friday night in the game against Ulster, scoring a try in a game they should have won. He has genuine pace and that along with size and physicality and some experience at this level are what we are going to need against New Zealand.
“We were all disappointed last week when we made a number of changes which we thought we could cope with. We found out we couldn’t, but we hope to be back firing on all cylinders this week. ”
Meanwhile, Nikki Walker has retained his place in the starting line-up for Scotland against Samoa in his home town of Aberdeen, while Tommy Bowe will be hoping to get the nod when the Ireland team to play face Argentina on Sunday is named tomorrow.
WALES: Lee Byrne; George North, Tom Shanklin, James Hook, Tom James; Stephen Jones, Mike Phillips; Gethin Jenkins, Matthew Rees (c), Adam Jones, Bradley Davies, Alun Wyn Jones, Dan Lydiate, Sam Warburton, Ryan Jones
Replacements: Huw Bennett, Paul James, Jonathan Thomas, Andy Powell, Martyn Williams, Richie Rees, Andrew Bishop
WALES
15 Lee BYRNE (OSPREYS – Cap No 1,041) DoB: 01.06.80. 6'3" / 1.91m. 15st 1lb / 96kgs International record: 37 caps (W 14, L 21, D 2; 40 pts – 8T)
14 George NORTH (SCARLETS – Cap No 1,078) DoB: 13.04.92. 6’4” / 1.92m. 16st 5lbs / 104kgs International record: 2 caps (L 1, D 1; 10 pts – 2T)
13 Tom SHANKLIN (CARDIFF BLUES – Cap No 993) DoB: 24.11.79. 6’2” / 1.88m. 15st 9lbs / 99kgs International record: 69 caps (W 32, L 35, D 2; 100 pts – 20T)
12 James HOOK (OSPREYS – Cap No 1,047) DoB: 27.06.85. 6’0” / 1.83m. 14st 7lbs / 92kgs International record: 46 caps (W 18, L 26, D 2; 237 pts – 11T, 34C, 35PG, 3DG)
11 Tom JAMES (CARDIFF BLUES– Cap No 1,055) DoB: 17.04.87. 6'2" / 1.88m. 15st 7lbs / 98kgs International record: 9 caps (W 4, L 5; 10 pts – 2T)
10 Stephen JONES (SCARLETS– Cap No 966) DoB: 08.12.77. 6'1” / 1.86m. 14st 7lbs / 92kgs International record: 94 caps (W 39, L 52, D 3; 839 pts - 7T, 135C, 172PG, 6DG)
9 Michael PHILLIPS (OSPREYS – Cap No 1,022) DoB: 29.08.82. 6’3” / 1.91m. 16st 0lb / 101kgs International record: 45 caps (W 21, L 22, D 2; 20 pts – 4T)
1 Gethin JENKINS (CARDIFF BLUES – Cap No 1,006) DoB: 17.11.80. 6’2” / 1.88m. 18st 9lbs / 118kgs International record: 75 caps (W 33, L 40, D 2; 15 pts – 3T)
2 Matthew REES (SCARLETS, CAPTAIN – Cap No 1,033) DoB: 09.12.80. 6’0” / 1.83m. 16st 13lbs / 108kgs International record: 41 caps (W 17, L 23, D 1; 10 pts – 2T)
3 Adam Rhys JONES (OSPREYS – Cap No 1,018) DoB: 08.03.81. 6’0” / 1.83m. 18st 10lb / 119kgs International record: 67 caps (W 31, L 33, D 3; 10 pts – 2T)
4 Bradley DAVIES (CARDIFF BLUES – Cap No 1,065) DoB: 09.01.87. 6’6” / 1.98m. 18st 12lbs / 120kgs International record: 16 caps (W 6, L 9, D 1)
5 Alun Wyn JONES (OSPREYS – Cap No 1,046) DoB: 19.09.85. 6’5” / 1.96m. 18st 8lbs / 118kgs International record: 42 caps (W 16, L 26; 25 pts – 5T)
6 Dan LYDIATE (NEWPORT GWENT DRAGONS – Cap No 1,071) DoB: 18.12.87. 1.93m / 6’4”. 17st 4lbs / 110kgs International record: 4 caps (W 1, L 2, D 1)
7 Sam WARBURTON (CARDIFF BLUES – Cap No 1,070) DoB: 05.10.88. 1.88m / 6’2”. 15st 11lbs / 100kgs International record: 8 caps (W 4, L 4)
8 Ryan JONES (OSPREYS – Cap No 1,029) DoB: 13.03.81. 6’5” / 1.96m. 17st 3lbs / 109kgs International record: 45 caps (W 23, L 20, D 2; 5 pts – 1T)
REPLACEMENTS
16 Huw BENNETT (OSPREYS – Cap No 1,017) DoB: 11.06.83. 6’0” / 1.83m. 16st 4lbs / 103kgs International record: 37 caps (W 18, L 18, D 1)
17 Paul JAMES (OSPREYS – Cap No 1,021) DoB: 13.05.82. 6’1” / 1.86m. 18st 13lbs / 120kgs International record: 16 caps (W 5, L 10, D 1)
18 Jonathan THOMAS (OSPREYS – Cap No 1,013) DoB: 27.12.82. 6’5” / 1.96m. 17st 5lbs / 110kgs International record: 61 caps (W 27, L 31, D 3; 35 pts – 7T)
19 Andy POWELL (LONDON WASPS – Cap No 1,061) DoB: 23.08.81. 6’4” / 1.94m. 17st 6lbs / 111kgs International record: 15 caps (W 8, L 7)
20 Martyn WILLIAMS (CARDIFF BLUES – Cap No 944) DoB: 01.09.75. 6'0" / 1.83m. 14st 22lbs / 94kgs International record: 97 caps (W 42, L 52, D 3; 73 pts – 14T, 1DG)
21 Richard REES (CARDIFF BLUES – Cap No 1,072) DoB: 21.05.83. 5’11” / 1.80m. 12st 8lb / 79kgs International record: 8 caps (W 1, L 6, D 1; 5 pts – 1T)
22 Andrew BISHOP (OSPREYS – Cap No 1,059) DoB: 07.08.85. 6’0” / 1.83m. 14st 10lbs / 93kgs International record: 14 caps (W 7, L 6, D 1)