Autumn Internationals Round-up: Wales have opted for power in the midfield against New Zealand on Saturday rather than the complementary centre pairing they have favoured for the last four years, with both Gavin Henson and James Hook relegated to the bench for the 74,500 sell-out at the Millennium Stadium.
The New Zealand Maori Sonny Parker, an outside-centre by preference, will wear the number 12 jersey alongside Tom Shanklin as Wales' head coach Gareth Jenkins looks to replicate the tactics used relatively successfully by South Africa in recent years against the All Blacks.
The Springboks deployed two big centres to plug holes in the midfield, where Daniel Carter likes to direct the attack. Jenkins denied the lack of an inside-centre with experience at outhalf would detract from Wales' attacking game, but an added tactical emphasis will be on the returning captain and outhalf Stephen Jones, who does not have a proven kicking option outside him.
"Sonny has played well for us at 12 and 13 this month," said Jenkins. "Gavin picked up an injury last week, and we have chosen on form. I do not accept the argument that Sonny does not have a kicking game and I think people might be surprised how he does in that area. You have to have a physicality to your game to compete with the All Blacks, you have to come to terms with the way they attack down the 10-12-13 channel. That is where they will ask the biggest questions of us."
Henson is an excellent head-on tackler but is less effective side-on, as he showed in the Lions' second Test in New Zealand last year when Tana Umaga slipped off his challenge to set up a try. Jenkins, a coach on that tour, said last week that Henson had to improve the defensive side of his game.
Another factor was injury ruling out Gareth Thomas at full-back, robbing Wales of an imposing figure at the last line of defence. His replacement, Kevin Morgan, has less physical virtues and Wales have chosen a side with an emphasis on retaining possession and counter-attacking rather than playing for position.
SOUTH AFRICA (v England, Twickenham, Saturday): F Steyn; A Ndungane, W Olivier, J de Villiers, B Habana; A Pretorius, E Januarie; CJ van der Linde, J Smit (captain), BJ Botha, J Ackermann, J Muller, K Floors, J Smith, D Rossouw. Replacements: C Ralepelle, D Carstens, A van den Berg, G Britz, R Pienaar, JP Pietersen, B Fortuin.
SCOTLAND (v Australia, Murrayfield, Saturday): C Paterson; S Lamont, M Di Rollo, A Henderson, S Webster; D Parks, M Blair; G Kerr, D Hall, E Murray, N Hines, S Murray, S Taylor, D Callam, K Brown. Replacements: R Ford, A Jacobsen, A Kellock, A Strokosch, R Lawson, P Godman, H Southwell.
WALES (v New Zealand, Millennium Stadium, Saturday): K Morgan; M Jones, T Shanklin, S Parker, S Williams; S Jones, D Peel; D Jones, R Thomas, A Jones, I Gough, I Evans, J Thomas, M Williams, R Jones. Replacements: M Rees, G Jenkins, AW Jones, A Popham, M Phillips, J Hook, G Henson.
ARGENTINA (v France, Stade de France, Saturday: J-M Hernandez; J-M Nunez Piossek, M Contepomi, F Contepomi, I Corleto; F Todeschini, A Pichot (capt); M Scelzo, M Ledesma, O Hasan, I Fernandez Lobbe, P Albacete, M Durand, J Fernandez Lobbe, G Longo. Replacements: A Vernet Basualdo, M Ayerza, E Lozada, J M Leguizamon, N Fernandez Miranda, H Senillosa, H Agulla.
FRANCE: P Elhorga; C Heymans, F Fritz, Y Jauzion, C Dominici; D Traille, D Yachvili; O Milloud, R Ibanez (capt), P de Villiers, L Nallet, P Pape, J Bonnaire, R Martin, E Vermeulen. Replacements: D Szarzewski, S Marconnet, L Jacquet, S Betsen, P Mignoni, D Marty, A Rougerie.
