James handed shock Wales start
Ospreys prop Paul James will make only his second appearance for Wales against the All Blacks
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Monday, 02, Nov 2009 01:52
By Alistair Potter.
Ospreys prop Paul James will make his first appearance for Wales in more than six years - and win only his second ever cap - when he starts against the All Blacks this weekend.
The 27-year-old, whose only other appearance came against minnows Romania in 2003, will pack down in the front row alongside Lions pair Matthew Rees at hooker and Gethin Jenkins at loose-head prop.
James starts ahead of experienced fellow Osprey Duncan Jones, who is on the bench alongside club-mate and fellow front-row Huw Bennett.
Elsewhere, James Hook will start at full-back alongside Shane Williams and Leigh Halfpenny on the wings.
Gareth Cooper plays at scrum-half inside experienced fly-half Stephen Jones, while the centres are Blues team-mates Tom Shanklin and Jamie Roberts.
In the pack, Dragons second row Luke Charteris partners Osprey Alun Wyn Jones at lock while the back row consists of Ospreys and Wales captain Ryan Jones at number eight and Blues duo Martyn Williams and Andy Powell in the flanker positions.
Head coach Warren Gatland revealed prop Jenkins was the guaranteed starter alongside first-choice hooker Rees and that James' performances in training over the past week had earned him the nod.
"We wanted Gethin to start so it was a case of seeing which of the other three props stood out in training. Paul edged it and we know he won't let us down," said Gatland.
"He may have just had the one cap but he has been around this Wales squad since making the tour to North America in the summer and at 27 years old has had plenty of experience and should be coming into his prime as a front-row forward."
Gatland said the rest of the line-up reflected which players could be most relied upon to front-up against the powerful All Blacks, who are coming off the back of a 4-0 clean sweep of Australia in the Bledisloe Cup.
"The coaches have looked for consistency of selection - we have asked James to play at full-back before and it a boost for any side to be able to have someone of his calibre on the field in whatever position that may be," the coach continued.
"We have an experienced pairing at centre, two exciting wingers and the Lions play-maker running the back line at fly-half, so we think we have a pretty good side out there.
"New Zealand will be looking to get the European part of their tour off to a winning start and were pretty slick in their demolition of Australia at the weekend.
"We are looking forward to facing them at the Millennium Stadium again and are expecting an exciting game."
Full Wales lineup to face New Zealand:
James Hook; Leigh Halfpenny, Tom Shanklin, Jamie Roberts, Shane Williams; Stephen Jones, Gareth Cooper; Gethin Jenkins, Matthew Rees, Paul James, Alun Wyn Jones, Luke Charteris, Andy Powell, Martyn Williams, Ryan Jones (captain).
Replacements:
Huw Bennett, Duncan Jones, Bradley Davies, Dafydd Jones, Martin Roberts, Jonathan Davies, Tom James