MARK TAYLOR JOINS ELITE “50 CLUB”
The 32-year-old centre, who will be playing for European Challenge Cup winners Sale Sharks next season, reaches the half century landmark 11 years after making his Test debut against South Africa in Cardiff.
Taylor – who captained Wales twice in 2000, including the 42-11 victory over the Eagles at the Millennium Stadium – will have one new cap in his starting line-up as 24-year-old Scarlets hooker Matthew Rees makes his Test debut in the absence of the injured Mefin Davies.
There are four players named for replacement duty, Cardiff Blues hooker Rhys Thomas, Saracens prop Ben Broster, Ospreys flanker Richie Pugh and Llanelli Scarlets centre Tal Selley, who would win first caps if called into action in a match in which Wales will be looking to make it seven wins from seven meetings.
“It is a great honour to be captaining Wales again and winning my 50th cap at the same time makes it extra special,” said Taylor.
Wales coach Mike Ruddock said: “I am delighted for Mark that he is leading the team out for his 50th cap. He has been, and still is, a great servant to Wales.
“He is still in great shape and he has already been hugely influential with the younger players on this tour. He also still has a huge amount of ambition, hence his new three-year deal with Sale Sharks.
“And I’m quite comfortable slotting the Blues backs straight into the team after their game on Sunday, though I’ve resisted the temptation to start the Blues forwards in this game because physically they need more time to recover.
“Despite losing 10 players to the Lions and others to injury, we have picked a strong and experienced side with just one new cap in the starting line-up.
“Matthew Rees will win his first cap through Mefin Davies’ injury and it is an opportunity for Matthew to show what he can do. He has played well for the Scarlets all season, is very active in the line-out and has been busy both in attack and defence.
“Ceri Sweeney will take over the role Gavin Henson played at 12 in the Six Nations, acting as a second play-maker and as a kicker and passer.
“It is good to see Duncan Jones back after missing the Six Nations and we wanted Luke Charteris to start and gain more international experience.
“It is important we have a strong backbone to the side in order to build on our recent performances and we will look to gain a balance in the team across the two Tests.
“We are looking forward to the challenge of playing the USA. They have two games under their belts in the past few weeks – they narrowly lost 30-26 to Canada and beat Romania 28-22. They are a very settled team with some exciting runners behind including Francois Viljoen, Mike Palefau, Paul Emerick and Mike Hercus. They have a very big, aggressive pack and, with Kort Schubert as captain, they will know a lot about the Wales team.”
WALES v USA
Rentschler Stadium, Hartford
Saturday, 4th June, 2005
Kick-off: 8.00 pm BST
WALES
15 Kevin Morgan (Dragons)
14 Rhys Williams (Blues)
13 Mark Taylor (Sale Sharks, Captain)
12 Ceri Sweeney (Dragons)
11 Craig Morgan (Blues)
10 Nicky Robinson (Blues)
09 Michael Phillips (Blues)
01 Duncan Jones (Ospreys)
02 Matthew Rees (Scarlets)
03 Adam Jones (Ospreys)
04 Brent Cockbain (Ospreys)
05 Luke Charteris (Dragons)
06 Jonathan Thomas (Ospreys)
07 Colin Charvis (Newcastle Falcons, Vice-captain)
08 Ryan Jones (Ospreys)
Replacements
16 Rhys Thomas (Blues)
17 Ben Broster (Saracens)
18 Ian Gough (Dragons)
19 Richie Pugh (Ospreys)
20 Andrew Williams (Bath Rugby)
21 Matthew Watkins (Scarlets)
22 Tal Selley (Scarlets)
Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)
TV: Sky Sports 2
USA: Francois Viljoen; Mike Palefau, Paul Emerick, Albert Tuipulotu, David Fee; Mike Hercus, Doug Rowe; Mike MacDonald, Matt Wyatt, Chris Osentowski, Alec Parker, Brian Surgener, Andrew Ryland, Kort Schubert (capt), Todd Clever. Replacements: Mark Griffin, Mike French, Mike Mangan, Tony Petruzzella: Peter Galicz, Salesi Sika, Matt Sherman
