Gatland makes three changes
Warren Gatland has made three changes to his Wales team for this Saturday's Six Nations clash at the Millennium Stadium.
Warren Gatland has made three changes to his Wales team for this Saturday's Six Nations clash at the Millennium Stadium.
An ankle injury to Alun-Wyn Jones has forced Gatland to bring Ian Evans into the second row, which in turn results in a call-up for Deniol Jones on the bench.
The other two changes see Cardiff Blues duo Tom Shanklin and Jamie Roberts come in at outside centre and right wing respectively. Shanklin returns having impressed as a second-half replacement against England and Roberts comes in to make his debut.
Gatland has also made the surprising decision to drop Scarlets loose-forward Alix Popham from the squad altogether, while prop Gethin Jenkins remains among the replacements.
Gloucester back-row Gareth Delve takes Popham's place on a bench which also features fit-again scrum-half Dwayne Peel.
“When you beat England at Twickenham you don't feel the need to make changes to a winning side, but there are areas we think we can improve,” Gatland said.
“After reviewing last week's match we've given Mark Jones and Alix Popham a few things to work on and are pleased to offer both Jamie Roberts and Gareth Delve an opportunity.
“Both have been in fine form so far this season. Gareth is capable of coming off the bench to make an impact and we have been pleased with Jamie in training.
“Impact from the bench was important for us last week and we are blessed again with the ability to use the likes of Gethin Jenkins and Matthew Rees if needed.
“We've also been able to name Dwayne Peel there with that thought in mind.”
The inclusion of Shanklin ahead of Parker takes the number of Ospreys in the starting line-up down to 12 from the record 13 that took the field at Twickenham.
Victory over England lifted Wales two places in the world rankings – but Gatland's decision to drop Jones and Popham shows a clear determination that there is work still to be done.
Wales were poor for an hour at Twickenham before pouncing on a series of English mistakes to score 20 unanswered points and snatch a 26-19 win.
“Scotland will be hurting from their defeat to France last week and they will come to Cardiff targeting a win,” Gatland added.
“They may feel they will find us in complacent mood after such a great result at Twickenham, but nothing could be further from the truth.
“We enjoyed the win, but 24 hours later we were straight back to business.
“We know we need to improve, Scotland will want to bounce back and we need a better performance this weekend if we are to achieve what we want from the game.”
Wales: 15 Lee Byrne (Ospreys), 14 Jamie Roberts (Blues), 13 Tom Shanklin (Blues), 12 Gavin Henson (Ospreys), 11 Shane Williams (Ospreys), 10 James Hook (Ospreys), 9 Mike Phillips (Ospreys), 8 Ryan Jones (Ospreys) (c). 7 Martyn Williams (Blues), 6 Jonathan Thomas (Ospreys), 5 Ian Evans (Ospreys), 4 Ian Gough (Ospreys), 3 Adam Jones (Ospreys), 2 Huw Bennett (Ospreys), 1 Duncan Jones (Ospreys).
Replacements: 16 Matthew Rees (Scarlets), 17 Gethin Jenkins (Blues), 18 Deiniol Jones (Blues), 19 Gareth Delve (Gloucester), 20 Dwayne Peel (Scarlets), 21 Stephen Jones (Scarlets), 22 Sonny Parker (Ospreys).
Date: Saturday February 9, 2008
Kick-off: 14:00 GMT
Venue: Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Referee: Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
Touch judges: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa), Christophe Berdos (France)
Television match official: Carlo Damasco (Italy)
Assessor: Jim Bailey (Wales)