Warren Gatland on team announcement
Gavin Henson and Michael Phillips return from injury at inside centre and scrum half respectively and Leigh Halfpenny makes his championship debut on the wing.
Jamie Roberts switches from inside to outside centre to accommodate Henson in a positional change with Tom Shanklin moving to the bench.
Injury ruled both Gareth Cooper and Mark Jones out of contention. Cooper will have a minor operation on his knee later today which should have a recovery rate of around a fortnight and in his absence Dwayne Peel is named among the replacements.
Elsewhere on the bench Huw Bennett returns to provide cover at hooker and Luke Charteris is retained alongside John Yapp, Dafydd Jones and James Hook with Dragons second row Charteris also being handed the chance to join starters Halfpenny and Andy Powell in making his tournament debut.
“We know the nation expects, but we will not be complacent, we will be on our guard,” said Gatland. “Teams have gone to Scotland in the past and been over confident and expected a result, but the Scots will be looking forward to taking us on and if we take the challenge lightly we will be playing straight into their hands.
“They are a much improved outfit over the last 12 months and they have the talent and the ability to turn teams over.
“We have tried to select on form and are particularly keen to get a look at the partnership in midfield of Gavin Henson and Jamie Roberts which we have been able to select for the first time. But we had close calls to make throughout the squad and selection is always down to a matter of opinion – now we wait and see if those players selected can prove those opinions correct.”
Wales: Lee Byrne; Leigh Halfpenny, Jamie Roberts, Gavin Henson, Shane Williams; Stephen Jones, Michael Phillips; Gethin Jenkins, Matthew Rees, Adam Jones, Ian Gough, Alun-Wyn Jones, Ryan Jones (captain), Martyn Williams, Andy Powell.
Replacements: Huw Bennett, John Yapp, Luke Charteris, Dafydd Jones, Dwayne Peel, James Hook, Tom Shanklin
WALES
15 Lee BYRNE (OSPREYS – Cap No 1,041)
DoB: 01.06.80. 6’3″ / 1.91m. 15st 9lbs / 99kgs
International record: 22 caps (W 9, L 12, D 1; 30 pts – 6T)
14 Leigh HALFPENNY (CARDIFF BLUES – Cap No 1,060)
DoB: 22.12.88. 5’10” / 1.77m. 13st 1lb / 83kgs
International record: 3 caps (W 1, L 2; 13 pts – 2T, 1PG)
13 Jamie ROBERTS (CARDIFF BLUES – Cap No 1,057)
DoB: 08.11.86. 6’4” / 1.93m. 16st 10lbs / 107kgs
International record: 7 caps (W 3, L 4; 5 pts – 1T)
12 Gavin HENSON (OSPREYS – Cap No 990)
DoB: 01.02.82. 6’0” / 1.83m. 15st 10lbs / 100kgs
International record: 28 caps (W 16, L 11, D 1; 130 pts – 3T,29C,18PG,1DG)
11 Shane WILLIAMS (OSPREYS – Cap No 976)
DoB: 26.02.77. 5’7” / 1.71m. 12st 13lbs / 82kgs
International record: 61 caps (W 30, L 29, D 2; 220 pts – 44T)
10 Stephen JONES (SCARLETS – Cap No 966)
DoB: 08.12.77. 6’1” / 1.86m. 14st 12lbs / 94kgs
International record: 75 caps (W33, L40, D2; 649 pts – 6T,116C,125PG,4DG)
9 Michael PHILLIPS (OSPREYS – Cap No 1,022)
DoB: 29.08.82. 6’3” / 1.91m. 16st 4lbs / 103kgs
International record: 33 caps (W 17, L 15, D 1; 20 pts – 4T)
1 Gethin JENKINS (CARDIFF BLUES – Cap No 1,006)
DoB: 17.11.80. 6’2” / 1.88m. 18st 13lbs / 120kgs
International record: 63 caps (W 26, L 35, D 2; 15 pts – 3T)
2 Matthew REES (SCARLETS – Cap No 1,033)
DoB: 09.12.80. 6’0” / 1.83m. 17st 1lbs / 108kgs
International record: 25 caps (W 11, L 13, D 1; 10 pts – 2T)
3 Adam Rhys JONES (OSPREYS – Cap No 1,018)
DoB: 08.03.81. 6’0” / 1.83m. 19st 10lb / 125kgs
International record: 52 caps (W 27, L 23, D 2; 5 pts – 1T)
4 Ian GOUGH (OSPREYS – Cap No 964)
DoB: 10.11.76. 6′ 6″ / 1.98m. 18st 9lbs / 118kgs
International record: 55 caps (W 25, L 27, D 3; 5 pts – 1T)
5 Alun-Wyn JONES (OSPREYS – Cap No 1,046)
DoB: 19.09.85. 6’5” / 1.96m. 19st 1lbs / 121kgs
International record: 26 caps (W 10, L 16; 15 pts – 3T)
6 Ryan JONES (OSPREYS, CAPTAIN – Cap No 1,029)
DoB: 13.03.81. 6’5” / 1.96m. 18st 0lbs / 114kgs
International record: 27 caps (W 15, L 11, D 1; 5 pts – 1T)
7 Martyn WILLIAMS (CARDIFF BLUES – Cap No 944)
DoB: 01.09.75. 6’0″ / 1.83m. 15st 11lbs / 100kgs
International record: 84 caps (W 39, L 42, D 3; 73 pts – 14T, 1DG)
8 Andy POWELL (CARDIFF BLUES – Cap No 1,061)
DoB: 23.08.81. 6’4” / 1.94m. 17st 6lbs / 111kgs
International record: 4 caps (W 2, L 2)
REPLACEMENTS
16 Huw BENNETT (OSPREYS – Cap No 1,017)
DoB: 11.06.83. 6’0” / 1.83m. 17st 0lbs / 108kgs
International record: 18 caps (W 11, L 7)
17 John YAPP (CARDIFF BLUES – Cap No 1,031)
DoB: 09.04.83. 6’2” / 1.88m. 18st 8lbs / 118kgs
International record: 10 caps (W 8, L 2)
18 Luke CHARTERIS (NEWPORT GWENT DRAGONS – Cap No 1,030)
DoB: 09.03.83. 6’9” / 2.06m. 19st 9lbs / 125kgs
International record: 9 caps (W 5, L 4)
19 Dafydd JONES (SCARLETS – Cap No 1,008)
DoB: 24.06.79. 6’3” / 1.90m. 17st 5lbs / 110kgs
International record: 34 caps (W 14; L 20; 10 pts – 2T)
20 Dwayne PEEL (SALE SHARKS – Cap No 994)
DoB: 31.08.81. 5’9” / 1.76m. 13st 8lbs / 86kgs
International record: 64 caps (W 28, L 34, D 2; 25 pts – 5T)
21 James HOOK (OSPREYS – Cap No 1,047)
DoB: 27.06.85. 6’0” / 1.83m. 14st 12lbs / 94kgs
International record: 30 caps (W 12, L 17, D 1; 196 pts – 6T,32C,32PG,2DG)
22 Tom SHANKLIN (CARDIFF BLUES – Cap No 993)
DoB: 24.11.79. 6’2” / 1.88m. 15st 9lbs / 99kgs
International record: 58 caps (W 27, L 30, D 1; 90 pts – 18T)
