Friday, November 21, 2008

Wales v New Zealand (Sat)

WALES v NEW ZEALAND
Venue: Millennium Stadium, Cardiff Date: Saturday, 22 November Kick-off: 1715 GMT Coverage: Live on BBC Two, Radio 5 Live Sports Extra, Radio Wales, Radio Cymru & the BBC Sport website


Rival captains Ryan Jones & Richie McCaw
Rival captains Ryan ones and Richie McCaw will do battle on Saturday

Wales are hoping to halt a run of 19 defeats to New Zealand when the two sides meet in Cardiff on Saturday.

The last man to lead Wales to a win against the All Blacks, Bleddyn Williams, 85, will be guest of honour 55 years after that moment of glory.

Wales have Gareth Cooper at scrum-half ahead of Dwayne Peel while wing Leigh Halfpenny, 19, wins his third cap.

Grand Slam-chasing New Zealand have Richard Kahui at centre in place of the injured Conrad Smith.

If James Hook's recovery from a knee tendon strain is complete, he will take his place on the bench.

Williams whips NZ twice in a month

If not, Dan Biggar will be there along with Andrew Bishop, John Yapp and Luke Charteris, the latter preferred on form to Ian Gough.

Captain Ryan Jones switches back to blind-side flanker to accommodate Andy Powell at number eight.

All Blacks hooker Corey Flynn has been sent home after suffering a broken arm against Ireland and Hikawera Elliott comes on to the bench while tight-head prop Neemia Tialata has been passed fit after illness.

At the start of the week's preparations, Wales coach Warren Gatland invited any players who did not believe they could win to relinquish their places in the team.

"If everything goes right on the day and we put them under pressure, we've got a chance," said Gatland.

Gatland explains his selections

"Earlier in the week, I asked the players 'do you really believe that we've got a chance of winning this game because if one or two of you don't, then there's no embarrassment, put your hands up and we will find someone else who does'.

"You've got to ask the question because there's no point in hiding away from that fact.

"Psychologically that's the most important thing - to go in with some confidence and self-belief."

Whether or not Wales' players truly believe they can topple Richie McCaw's men remains to be seen, but the 20-15 defeat to South Africa in the hosts' opening autumn Test continues to rankle and may provide the inner steel to take their chance if it arises.

Gatland said: "We were critical in-house of aspects of the performance (against the Springboks) and that side now has a chance to respond to that criticism.

"For the likes of Andy Powell and Leigh Halfpenny, who both had impressive debuts, our message is also the same - both players need to simply enjoy the experience and have nothing to fear."

New Zealand coach Graham Henry's time as Wales coach puts him in a position to understand what Gatland must do to ensure his charges have self-belief.

If Wales are as good as Henry has stated, he might be the first New Zealand boss in the modern era to see is team lose to the hosts.

Henry said: "As we all know, Wales are a very good team. They play an expansive style of attacking rugby and have talent across the park so it's shaping up to be another classic encounter."


Wales: Lee Byrne (Ospreys); Leigh Halfpenny (Blues), Tom Shanklin (Blues), Jamie Roberts (Blues), Shane Williams (Ospreys); Stephen Jones (Scarlets), Gareth Cooper (Gloucester); Gethin Jenkins (Blues), Matthew Rees (Scarlets), Adam Jones (Ospreys), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys), Ian Evans (Ospreys), Ryan Jones (Ospreys, capt), Martyn Williams (Blues), Andy Powell (Blues).
Replacements: Richard Hibbard (Ospreys), John Yapp (Blues), Luke Charteris (Dragons), Dafydd Jones (Scarlets), Dwayne Peel (Sale), James Hook/Dan Biggar (both Ospreys), Andrew Bishop (Ospreys).

New Zealand: Mils Muliaina (Waikato); Joe Rokocoko (Auckland), Richard Kahui (Waikato), Ma'a Nonu (Wellington), Sitiveni Sivivatu (Waikato); Dan Carter (Canterbury), Jimmy Cowan (Southland); Tony Woodcock (North Harbour), Keven Mealamu (Auckland), Neemia Tialata (Wellington) Brad Thorn (Tasman), Ali Williams (Tasman), Jerome Kaino (Auckland), Richie McCaw (Canterbury, capt), Rodney So'oialo (Wellington).
Replacements: Hikawera Elliot (Hawke's Bay), John Afoa (Auckland), Anthony Boric (North Harbour), Kieran Read (Canterbury), Piri Weepu (Wellington), Stephen Donald (Waikato), Isaia Toeava (Auckland).

Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa).

Assistant referees: Dave Pearson (England) and Cobus Wessels (South Africa).

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