New leader: Ryan Jones
Ospreys forward Ryan Jones will captain Wales from blindside flanker against France at the Stade de France on Saturday.
Regular captain Sam Warburton has been ruled out through injury, meaning Justin Tipuric has been brought in at openside to partner Jones.
The other change sees Ospreys hooker Richard Hibbard earn a start, with Matthew Rees dropping out of the 22 through injury.
Scarlets second-row Lou Reed earns a spot amongst the replacements ahead of Harlequins' Olly Kohn, with Aaron Shingler dropping to the bench.
Wales: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 George North, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Ryan Jones (c), 5 Ian Evans, 4 Andrew Coombs, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements: 16 Ken Owens, 17 Paul James, 18 Craig Mitchell, 19 Lou Reed, 20 Aaron Shingler, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 James Hook, 23 Scott Williams.
Date: Saturday, February 9:
Venue: Stade de France
Kick-off: 18.00 local (17.00 GMT)
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Alain Rolland (Ireland), Francisco Pastrana (Argentina)
Television match official: Giulio De Santis (Italy)
Comments
melkdave says...
If Warburton is injured again ,thats the final nail in any hopes he has of a Lions place .Thats got to be his what 6-7th injury this year,and another 2-3 weeks after recovery to try and regain any form,and that just playing meaningless Pro12 games.Also looking at the team,it doesnt really inspire me with alot of confidance to be honest.Jenkins .A.Jones,M.Phillips ,and to a lesser extent J.Roberts have all been performing way below their best,and it looks like the same gameplan ,with no variation again.Personnally i would have dropped GJ and AJ along with MR,who thank god is dropped.In favour of a frontrow of P.James,Hibberd / Owens,and Mitchell.None of last weekends FR won their personnal battles at all,and France arguabily have a lot better scrum than Ireland.I think A.Jones will finally be seen for the waste of space he is at the moment .and talk of him being on the Lions tour will finally be quashed.His only just holding his own in the scrum by the skin of his teeth ,and absolutly useless in the loose,where his 5 mins late to any ruck/maul and cant carry and gain yards for toffee..Nice to see J.Tipric finally being given a start,though,and i feel the backrow will perform better this week .M.Phillips imo,is just to slow to the breakdown ,and his passing is slow and not precise at the moment,which stops D.Bigger being able to do anything with the ball.Would have prefered Williams or Knowle to start and J.Hook to start at 12 aswell ,to offer support to Bigger ,and something different in attack for Wales .J.Roberts then can come off the bench against tired legs ,and maybe make more of an impact .France-Wales games are usually good games to watch,and im hoping that continues,but realistically i cant see Wales being victorious in Paris ,not after France lost to a deserving Italy,though i do hope im wrong.
Posted 13:05 07th February 2013
Dezz says...
@ Paddy91317. Totally agree. Bit of a coincidence that certain non performers have picked up injuries.
Posted 12:36 07th February 2013
GoWalesGo says...
Ken Owens, Lou Reed, Gethin Jenkins??
WTF
I'd have dropped Cuthbert, brought in Byrne at 15 and moved Halfpenny to the wing as well.
Posted 12:32 07th February 2013
bluechief says...
no way is he injured. just saving face. i wish gethin was "injured" too...
Posted 12:31 07th February 2013
carpelone says...
Still no Hook. Weird.
Posted 12:27 07th February 2013
paddy91317 says...
injury... hummm could just be an excuse to drop him
Posted 12:13 07th February 2013