WALES SQUAD
Mike Hall (Cardiff, Captain), Tony Clement (Swansea), Justin Thomas (Cardiff Institute), Wayne Proctor (Llanelli), Ieuan Evans (Llanelli), Steve Ford (Cardiff), Gareth Thomas (Bridgend), David Evans (Treorchy), Adrian Davies (Cardiff), Neil Jenkins (Pontypridd), Andy Moore (Cardiff), Robert Jones (Swansea), Mike Griffiths (Cardiff), Ricky Evans (Llanelli), Spencer John (Llanelli), John Davies (Neath), Garin Jenkins (Swansea), Jonathan Humphreys (Cardiff), Derwyn Jones (Cardiff), Gareth Llewellyn (Neath), Greg Prosser (Pontypridd), Stuart Roy (Cardiff), Stuart Davies (Swansea), Emyr Lewis (Cardiff), Hemi Taylor (Cardiff), Mark Bennett (Cardiff)
Manager: Geoff Evans; Coach Alex Evans; Assistant
Coaches: Mike Ruddock, Dennis John
WALES POOL C
27th May 1995 – WALES 57 JAPAN 10 (Bloemfontein)
Cardiff’s Australian coach Alex Evans became the first non-Welshman to coach Wales when he took over from Alan Davies eight weeks before the start of the third World Cup.
Davies, his assistant coach Gareth Jenkins and team manager Robert Norster stood down after Wales were whitewashed in the Five Nations.
Geoff Evans took over as manager and Evans had Mike Ruddock and Dennis John as his assistants in South Africa.
Wales had to play four matches to qualify for the finals and Mike Hall was handed the captaincy over Ieuan Evans, who had led his country a record 28 times. Gareth Thomas became the first Welsh player in 92 years to score a hat-trick on his debut, matching Willie Llewellyn, as Wales notched a record score in the finals.
Neil Jenkins chipped in with a Welsh World Cup finals record of 22 points.
WALES: T Clement (Swansea), I Evans (Llanelli), M Hall (Cardiff, Captain), N Jenkins (Pontypridd), G Thomas (Bridgend), A Davies (Cardiff), A Moore (Cardiff), M Griffiths (Cardiff), G Jenkins (Swansea), J Davies (Neath), D Jones (Cardiff), G Llewellyn (Neath), S Davies (Swansea), E Lewis (Cardiff), H Taylor (Cardiff)
Replacements: D Evans (Treorchy) for A Davies; S Roy (Cardiff) for Jones
Scorers: Tries – G Thomas (3), I Evans (2), A Moore, H Taylor; Cons – N Jenkins (5); Pens – N Jenkins (4)
JAPAN: T Matsuda; L Oto, A Yoshida, Y Motoki, T Masuho, S Hirao, M Horikoshi, O Ota, M Kunda (Captain), K Takahashi, Y Sakuraba, B Ferguson, H Kajihara, Sinali Latu, Sione Latu
Replacements: Tries – L Oto (2)
Referee: E Sklar (Argentina)
31st May 1995 – WALES 9 NEW ZEALAND 34 (Johannesburg)
Alex Evans moved lock Gareth Llewellyn to the back row and gave first caps to Jonathan Humphreys, Greg Prosser and Mark Bennett. It was the 13th straight defeat at the hands of the All Blacks, although Wales did at least take the lead with a Neil Jenkins drop goal under the Ellis Park floodlights.
But the Kiwis hit back with three tries and Andrew Mehrtens kicked 19 points – a World Cup record against Wales.
WALES: T Clement (Swansea), I Evans (Llanelli), M Hall (Cardiff, Captain), G Thomas (Bridgend), W Proctor (Llanelli), N Jenkins (Pontypridd), R Jones (Swansea), R Evans (Llanelli), J Humphreys (Cardiff), J Davies (Neath), D Jones (Cardiff), G Prosser (Pontypridd), G Llewellyn (Neath), H Taylor (Cardiff), M Bennett (Cardiff)
Scorer: Pens – N Jenkins (2); DG – N Jenkins
NEW ZEALAND: G Osborne, J Lomu, F Bunce, W Little, M Ellis; A Mehrtens, G Bachop; C Dowd, S Fitpatrick (Captain), O Brown, I Jones, B Larsen, J Joseph, M Brewer, J Kronfeld
Replacement: E Rush for Lomu
Scorers: Tries – W Little, M Ellis, J Kronfeld; Cons – A Mehrtens (2); Pens – A Mehrtens (4); DG – A Mehrtens
Referee: E Morrison (England)
4th June 1995 – WALES 23 IRELAND 24 (Johannesburg)
Wales failed to make it to the last eight for the second successive World Cup when Ireland blew them away with 14 points in the opening 12 minutes.
It was one of Wales‘ worst international performances, lacking in passion and tactical awareness, and left them heading home early again.
There was a late Welsh rally but it was too little too late, tries from Jonathan Humphreys and Hemi Taylor not enough to deny the Irish.
WALES: T Clement (Swansea), I Evans (Llanelli), M Hall (Cardiff, Captain), N Jenkins (Pontypridd), G Thomas (Bridgend), A Davies (Cardiff), R Jones (Swansea); M Griffiths (Cardiff), J Humphreys (Cardiff), J Davies (Neath), D Jones (Cardiff), G Llewellyn (Neath), S Davies (Swansea), E Lewis (Cardiff), H Taylor (Cardiff)
Replacement: R Evans (Llanelli) for Davies
Scorers: Tries – J Humphreys, H Taylor; Cons – N Jenkins (2); Pens – N Jenkins, (2); DG – A Davies
IRELAND: C O’Shea, R Wallace, J Bell, B Mullin, S Geoghegan, E Elwood, N Hogan; N Popplewell, T Kingston (Captain), G Halpin, G Fulcher, N Francis, D Corkery, P Johns, D McBride
Replacement: E Halvey for McBride
Scorers: Tries – N Popplewell, D McBride, E Halvey; Cons – E Elwood (3); Pen – E Elwood
Referee: I Rogers (South Africa)
POOL C FINAL STANDINGS
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| New Zealand | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 222 | 45 | 9 |
| Ireland | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 94 | 93 | 7 |
| WALES | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 89 | 68 | 5 |
| Japan | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 55 | 252 | 3 |
New Zealand made it to the final against host nation South Africa who ran out eventual IRB Rugby Wolrd Cup Champions in front of their home crowd at Ellis Park Stadium.
