James Hook, the Ospreys utility back, makes his second start of the series. Nudging fellow No.10 contender Ceri Sweeney to the bench, Hook replaces the injured Stephen Jones, who failed a fitness test on his knee this morning.
Thomas features at full-back with the on-form Mark Jones coming onto the wing; Kevin Morgan misses out on a third test start. Jenkins has further endorsed the impact of a number of players who featured in last week’s impressive victory over the Pacific Islanders: adding Sweeney, Sonny Parker and Robert Sidoli to the bench.
“Alfie (Gareth Thomas) needs to play,” said Jenkins. “And with Stephen (Jones) injured he is the ideal person to come in and captain the side as we try to lay down a World Cup marker with Canada.”
“Mark Jones retains his place on the wing and has another opportunity to show what he can do after having an impressive performance against the Pacific Islanders, cut short after a knock in the second half. Ceri Sweeney also went well at fly-half last week, but we felt James Hook would benefit from another 80 minutes at international level, plus we get another chance to assess how he fits into the set-up.”
“We have selected a side to beat Canada and there are other players in the squad who impressed against the South Sea Islanders who may yet come into the equation this series as the shadow of the New Zealand match looms over us. We had a healthy debate this week about selection and are another step closer to finding the 22 players who will represent Wales against the All Blacks.”
“There is pressure in a number of positions and the jury is still out on what our best selection is, but that’s a great problem for us to have as coaches. The real pressure now is on the players selected to perform and for the rest of the squad to get behind them. We are about creating a team environment with the right conditions for this squad to grow and get better and better, and the next step is to turn it on against Canada.”
Wales: Gareth Thomas (c), Mark Jones, Tom Shanklin, Gavin Henson, Shane Williams, James Hook, Dwayne Peel, Gethin Jenkins, Matthew Rees, Adam Jones, Ian Gough, Ian Evans, Jonathan Thomas, Martyn Williams, Ryan Jones
Replacements: Rhys Thomas, Duncan Jones, Robert Sidoli, Alun Wyn Jones, Michael Phillips, Ceri Sweeney, Sonny Parker
