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JAMES HOOK will play full-back for Wales against England in the opening Six Nations game at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Friday night (ko 7.45pm). Morgan Stoddart is on the wing and Lee Byrne is on the bench.

WALES: James Hook; Morgan Stoddart, Jamie Roberts, Jonathan Davies, Shane Williams; Stephen Jones, Mike Phillips; Paul James, Matthew Rees (C), Craig Mitchell, Bradley Davies, Alun Wyn Jones, Dan Lydiate, Sam Warburton, Andy Powell. Replacements (to be confirmed): Richard Hibbard, John Yapp, Ryan Jones, Jonathan Thomas, Dwayne Peel, Rhys Priestland, Lee Byrne.

ENGLAND: B Foden (Northampton Saints); C Ashton (Northampton Saints), M Tindall (Gloucester, capt), S Hape (Bath), M Cueto (Sale Sharks); T Flood (Leicester Tigers), B Youngs (Leicester Tigers); A Sheridan (Sale Sharks), D Hartley (Northampton Saints), D Cole (Leicester Tigers), L Deacon (Leicester Tigers), T Palmer (Stade Francais), T Wood (Northampton Saints), J Haskell (Stade Francais), N Easter (Harlequins). Replacements: S Thompson (Leeds Carnegie), D Wilson (Bath), S Shaw (Wasps), J Worsley (Wasps), D Care (Harlequins), J Wilkinson (Toulon), M Banahan (Bath).

Wales assistant coach Rob Howley has predicted the game will be “a battle of inches not yards.”

Howley is in charge of a back line which sees Scarlets wing Morgan Stoddart return to international duty for the first time since the Autumn of 2008 and finds a place for Osprey Hook at full back with his regional colleague Lee Byrne on the bench.

Elsewhere the centre partnership of Jamie Roberts (Blues) and Jonathan Davies (Scarlets) which proved successful on the recent summer tour of New Zealand is restored with halfbacks Mike Phillips (Ospreys) and Stephen Jones (Scarlets) also retained.

Former IRB World Player of the Year Shane Williams (Ospreys) has returned from injury to take up his place on the wing and complete the back three alongside Stoddart and Hook.

Up front 25-year-old Ospreys tight-head Craig Mitchell wins his first start and his fifth cap alongside captain Matthew Rees (Scarlets) at hooker and regional colleague Paul James on the other side of the scrum.

The regular pairing of Alun-Wyn Jones (Ospreys) and Bradley Davies (Blues) make up the second row with Blues youngster Sam Warburton joining Dragons blindside Dan Lydiate on the flanks together with Wasps No8 Andy Powell.

“In the front row we have two guys who have done well at regional level and know each others games either side of our leader and the Lions hooker in Matthew Rees, so we are comfortable with the selection,” said Howley.

“The second row has been consistent in recent times and we have two good youngsters who have both been playing exceptionally well coming into the back row.

“Dan (Lydiate) was magnificent for us in the autumn and Sam (Warburton) has been going great for the Blues in Europe recently and there is a nice balance there with the ball carrying abilities of Andy Powell completing the trio.

“This is going to be a battle of inches and not yards and we know the pack can dominate like they did in our Autumn games we are in with a good chance.

“We did debate selection at fly half and elsewhere in the backs but we feel we have settled on the right pairing there with the experience they offer.

“Lee Byrne misses out solely through virtue of the fact he has had limited game time after injury and he will offer us some impact from the bench, which is fairly experienced in itself and will undoubtedly be utilised during the evening.

“We are playing England at the home of Welsh rugby at the start of the Rugby World Cup year so we are looking to get ourselves of to a great start and create some momentum and I can’t think of a better place for a Welshman to do that.”

On the bench Rhys Priestland is the only uncapped player – he will be Wales’ 1,079th player if he gets on – where he is joined by a wealth of experience in Sale scrum-half Dwayne Peel, lock/back row Ryan Jones and Jonathan Thomas (both Ospreys), Blues prop John Yapp, Ospreys hooker Richard Hibbard and the 38-times capped Byrne.

Meanwhile, Northampton flanker Tom Wood will make his England debut on Friday.

Wood was not included in Martin Johnson’s original 33-man squad but he has been promoted from the Saxons straight into the starting XV after injuries forced England to reshuffle their pack.

Lewis Moody and Tom Croft are both missing from the back row while Northampton lock Courtney Lawes is in danger of being sidelined for the whole championship with a knee injury.

With Moody out, Mike Tindall has been appointed England captain for the first time.

Wood, 24, will pack down at blindside flanker and offer England a back-row lineout option in Croft’s absence, while James Haskell will start in the less familiar role on the openside.

Leicester lock Louis Deacon returns in the second row to partner Tom Palmer in place of Lawes.

Wood is in his first year with Heineken Cup quarter-finalists Northampton after three seasons at Worcester.

He was born in Coventry and played for the Barkers’ Butts club, which lists Danny Grewcock and Neil Back among its international alumni.

Wood graduated through the Worcester academy and overcame a broken leg with a successful spell in New Zealand before forcing his way into the Warriors first team in the 2007-08 season.

The athletic 6ft 5in, 16st 7lb flanker broke into the Saxons squad this time last year and, after making an immediate impression at Franklin’s Gardens, he is now in line for his Test debut in Cardiff.

Wood will don the six jersey. Haskell is traditionally a blindside but his breakdown and turnover work has been one of the big improvements in his game since moving to Stade Francais.

Labels: fullback, James, start, Wales, WalesOnline

Ospreys 23-22 Ulster

FORWARDS coach Jonathan Humphreys praised the fortitude of his young Ospreys side as they held on to secure a one-point victory over the Ulstermen at the Liberty Stadium.

At stages throughout the match the Welsh region looked as if they were going to suffer a seventh Magners League defeat after trailing 13-0 after 20 minutes and 19-14 shortly after half-time.

But they were indebted to a try from Marty Holah and the boot of outside-half Dan Biggar, who kicked six of his seven penalty attempts.

“We delighted with the performance. It was tough to go behind early doors but this team has got great spirit,” said Humphreys.

“It was great to see them stick to our game-plan and they played as a team and that’s what got us back into it and helped get us the victory.”

The Ospreys were helped by some good performances from their younger players not least from Tom Smith, who won the official man of the match award, and centre Ashley Beck, who provided the pass for the Ospreys’ only try.

Their other points came from Dan Biggar who kicked six out of his seven penalty attempts.

The Ospreys handed a Magners League start to wing Tom Prydie despite having already four Wales caps to his name.

In all the Ospreys, captained by Jerry Collins, had 24 players unavailable through international duty with Wales, Scotland, Wales U-20s and Wales Sevens, and injury.

Ulster made the more encouraging start and were good for their 6-0 lead after 11 minutes with two Ian Humphreys penalty goals.

The Ospreys went through the phases as they tried to get into Ulster’s 22 but the visitors’ defence held firm.

A Richard Fussell long pass to Prydie looked to have sent the wing through down the right, but referee Neil Paterson adjudged a forward pass.

And the Scottish official found himself in the thick of the action awarding a penalty try to Ulster on 15 minutes when Prydie tackled Humphreys without the ball as he chased a ball across the line. Š

There were ironic cheers from a poor home crowd five minutes later when Mr Paterson awarded the Ospreys a penalty from a scrum offence, a kick Biggar converted to get his side on the scoreboard.

That and a penalty miss by Humphreys seemed to rejuvenate the Welsh region and from a five metre lineout taken by Smith, the Ospreys score their first try with centre Beck putting in a long pass for Marty Holah to go in at the left corner.

With the Ulster pack getting penalised, Biggar kicked a penalty to close the gap to just two points.

And Ulster’s cause was not helped that Humphreys was forced off with a shoulder injury on 32 minutes, replaced by Paul Marshall, who went to scrum-half with Ruan Pienaar at 10.

There was worse to follow for the Ulstermen just before half-time when Tim Barker was sin-binned for throwing a punch on the floor with Biggar converting the subsequent penalty from five metres inside his own half to give the home side a 14-13 interval lead.

Despite being down a man, Ulster were kicked back into the lead with a Pienaar penalty three minutes after the, and a further six minutes later the South African was on target again.

But back to their full complement Ulster gave away three penalties with Biggar kicking three penalties to give the Ospreys a four-point lead.

With seven minutes left, the Ulstermen earned a penalty goal in front of the Ospreys posts, which Pienaar kicked, but it was not enough.

Labels: Battling, Ospreys, success, WalesOnline

WALES midfielder Andy King believes victory in tonight’s Carling Nations Cup opener against the Republic of Ireland would be the perfect boost ahead of next month’s eagerly-anticipated meeting with England.

New manager Gary Speed will take charge of Wales for the first time at the Aviva Stadium with Wales having endured a miserable run of three defeats at the start of the Euro 2012 qualifying campaign that means their record of failing to reach a major finals since 1958 is likely to continue.

Their next qualifier is the Millennium Stadium meeting with Fabio Capello’s men on March 26, and Leicester playmaker King believes a win over Giovanni Trapattoni’s men will tee Wales up nicely.

He said: “Confidence is a massive thing in football and if we can get a win it will be a huge boost for us. We are up against a strong Republic of Ireland side, they have Premier League players with lots of caps all the way through their squad and it would be a massive boost if we can win.

“This is a massively important competition and there is a trophy to be had.

“Every time you go out to play you want to do well and that’s why you have to work hard and everyone is going to be working hard to get the call up for England.

“I think some people see this as a warm up for the England game but it’s a different tournament and it’s important we get the three points and start the tournament well.

“The England game will be on people’s minds but we are 100% focused on Ireland.”

But Speed’s preparations for his first game since succeeding John Toshack as full-time boss in December have been hit by a number of injury withdrawals.

Tottenham’s Gareth Bale and Cardiff striker Craig Bellamy were not named in the original party and last night the names of Aaron Ramsey, David Edwards and Ched Evans were added to an absentee list which also included Boaz Myhill, Craig Morgan, Danny Gabbidon and Steve Morison.

Speed has also not been helped by the positioning of the fixture between two full league weekend programmes, with yesterday’s South Wales derby also depriving him of more time with his squad.

But King says that will be no excuse if Wales fail to perform.

“We do have a short preparation time and even more so for the people who played in the derby,” he said. “But at this time of the season it is hard and there are always a lot of games and it’s something Ireland will have to cope with as well.”

Labels: clash, England, Ireland, nicely, WalesOnline

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Labels: London, Nathan, Paralympics, Stephens, still, WalesOnline, wants, World