PRESS RELEASE FROM WALES TEAM:

THREE CHANGES FOR WINNING WALES

Wales coach Warren Gatland has made three changes to the side which defeated England at Twickenham for Scotland's RBS Six Nations visit to the Millennium Stadium on Saturday (Kick-off 2.00pm).
Gatland's men have already risen two places in the IRB world rankings, after his debut game in charge brought away victory in the English HQ for the first time in 20 years, but he is still looking for improvement in this 125th anniversary meeting with the Scots.
"When you beat England at Twickenham you don't feel the need to make changes to a winning side, but there are areas we think we can improve," said Gatland.
"Scotland will be hurting from their defeat to France last week and they will come to Cardiff targeting a win. They may feel they will find us in complacent mood after such a great result in Twickenham, but nothing could be further from the truth.
"We enjoyed the win, but 24 hours later we were straight back to business. We know we need to improve, Scotland will want to bounce back and we need a better performance this weekend if we are to achieve what we want from the game."
Blues pair Jamie Roberts and Tom Shanklin come into the backline for Wales' 113th meeting with Scotland replacing Mark Jones and Sonny Parker respectively.
The uncapped Roberts replaces Jones on the wing and will be Wales' 1,057th international, Shanklin retains his spot at outside centre after coming on for Osprey Parker in the second half last week.
The only change up front is Ospreys lock Ian Evans replacing his injured colleague Alun-Wyn Jones (ankle).
There are four changes on the bench where Gareth Delve is preferred to Alix Popham as back row cover and new call-up Deiniol Jones is handed the chance to add to his three caps. Scrum-half Dwayne Peel replaces Gareth Cooper and Parker completes his switch with Shanklin.
"Injury has forced Alun-Wyn out of contention, but Ian Evans should slot pretty smoothly into the second row and he is more than capable of picking up where his team mate left off," added Gatland.
"After reviewing last week's match we've given Mark Jones and Alix Popham a few things to work on and are pleased to offer both Jamie Roberts and Gareth Delve an opportunity.
"Both have been in fine form so far this season. Gareth is capable of coming off the bench to make an impact and we have been pleased with Jamie in training.
"Impact from the bench was important for us last week and we are blessed again with the ability to use the likes of Gethin Jenkins and Matthew Rees if needed. We've also been able to name Dwayne Peel there with that thought in mind."

WALES: Lee Byrne; Jamie Roberts, Tom Shanklin, Gavin Henson, Shane Williams; James Hook, Mike Phillips; Duncan Jones, Huw Bennett, Adam Jones, Ian Gough, Ian Evans, Jonathan Thomas, Martyn Williams, Ryan Jones (Captain)
REPLACEMENTS: Matthew Rees, Gethin Jenkins, Deiniol Jones, Gareth Delve, Dwayne Peel, Stephen Jones, Sonny Parker


RBS 6 NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP 2008
WALES v SCOTLAND
Millennium Stadium - Saturday 9 February - Kick-off: 2.00 pm

WALES

15 Lee BYRNE (Ospreys)

14 Jamie ROBERTS (Cardiff Blues)
13 Tom SHANKLIN (Cardiff Blues)
12 Gavin HENSON (Ospreys)
11 Shane WILLIAMS (Ospreys)

10 James HOOK (Ospreys)
9 Michael PHILLIPS (Ospreys)

1 Duncan JONES (Ospreys)
2 Huw BENNETT (Ospreys)
3 Adam Rhys JONES (Ospreys)
4 Ian GOUGH (Ospreys)
5 Ian EVANS (Ospreys)
6 Jonathan THOMAS (Ospreys)
7 Martyn WILLIAMS (Cardiff Blues)
8 Ryan JONES (Ospreys, captain)

REPLACEMENTS

16 Matthew REES (Llanelli Scarlets)
17 Gethin JENKINS (Cardiff Blues)
18 Deiniol JONES (Cardiff Blues)
19 Gareth DELVE (Gloucester Rugby)
20 Dwayne PEEL (Llanelli Scarlets)
21 Stephen JONES (Llanelli Scarlets)
22 Sonny PARKER (Ospreys)

Referee: Bryce LAWRENCE (New Zealand)
Touch Judges: Jonathan KAPLAN (SA), Christophe BERDOS (France)
TMO: Carlo DAMASCO (Italy)
Citing Commissioner: Francis PALMADE (France)


RBS 2008 SIX NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP

ROUND 1
England 19 Wales 26 (16-6) - Twickenham - 82,000
England: I Balshaw; P Sackey, M Tindall (D Cipriani 65), T Flood, D Strettle (L Vainikolo 13); J Wilkinson, A Gomarsall; A Sheridan, M Regan (L Mears 59), P Vickery (capt, M Stevens 70), S Shaw, S Borthwick, J Haskell, L Moody (T Rees 15, B Kay 41), L Narraway
Scorers: Try - T Flood; Con - J Wilkinson; Pens - J Wilkinson 3; Dgoal - J Wilkinson
Wales: L Byrne; Mark Jones, S Parker (T Shanklin 46), G Henson, Shane Williams; J Hook, M Phillips; Duncan Jones, H Bennett (M Rees 59), Adam R Jones (Gethin Jenkins 46), I Gough, AW Jones (I Evans 80), J Thomas (A Popham 15), M Williams, Ryan Jones (capt)
Scorers: Tries - L Byrne, M Phillips. Cons - J Hook 2; Pens - J Hook 4
RBS Man of the match: James Hook (Wales)
Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)

Scotland 6 France 27 (6-17) - Murrayfield - 76,500
Scotland: R Lamont (H Southwell 62); N Walker, N de Luca, A Henderson, S Webster; D Parks (C Paterson 61), M Blair (C Cusiter 68); A Jacobsen, R Ford (F Thomson 79), E Murray (G Kerr 59), N Hines, J Hamilton (S MacLeod 55), J White (capt), J Barclay, D Callam (K Brown 49)
Scorer: Pen - D Parks; DG - D Parks
France: C Heymans; V Clerc (A Rougerie 77), D Marty, D Traille, J Malzieu; F Trinh-Duc (D Skrela 60), J-B Elissalde (M Parra 69); L Faure, W Servat (D Szarzewski 49), J Brugnaut (N Mas 49), L Jacquet (A Mela 65), L Nallet (capt), T Dusautoir, F Ouedraogo, E Vermeulen (J Bonnaire 55).
Scorers: Tries - V Clerc 2, J Malzieu; Cons - J-B Elissalde 2, D Skrela; Pens - D Traille 2
RBS Man of the match: Vincent Clerc (France) Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)

Ireland 16 Italy 11 (10-3) - Croke Park - 75,387
Ireland: Try - G Dempsey; Con - R O'Gara; Pens - R O'Gara 3. Yellow: S Easterby 50
Italy: Try - S Parisse; Pens - D Bortolussi 2. Yellow: S Dellape 37
RBS Man of the match: Eoin Reddan (Ireland)
Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)

P W D L For Against Tries Points
France 1 1 0 0 27 6 3 2
WALES 1 1 0 0 26 19 2 2
Ireland 1 1 0 0 16 11 1 2
Italy 1 0 0 1 11 16 1 0
England 1 0 0 1 19 26 1 0
SCOTLAND 1 0 0 1 6 27 0 0

WALES

15 Lee BYRNE (OSPREYS - Cap No 1,041)
DoB: 01.06.80. 6'3" / 1.91m. 15st 4lbs / 97kgs
International record: 15 caps (W 4, L 10, D 1; 15 pts - 3T)

14 Jamie ROBERTS (CARDIFF BLUES - Uncapped)
DoB: 08.11.86. 6'4" / 1.93m. 14st 13lbs / 95kgs
International record: Uncapped

13 Tom SHANKLIN (CARDIFF BLUES - Cap No 993)
DoB: 24.11.79. 6'2" / 1.88m. 15st 9lbs / 99kgs
International record: 48 caps (W 21, L 26, D 1; 85 pts - 17T)

12 Gavin HENSON (OSPREYS - Cap No 990)
DoB: 01.02.82. 6'0" / 1.83m. 15st 7lbs / 98kgs
International record: 24 caps (W 12, L 11, D 1; 130 pts - 3T,29C,18PG,1DG)

11 Shane WILLIAMS (OSPREYS - Cap No 976)
DoB: 26.02.77. 5'7" / 1.71m. 12st 13lbs / 82kgs
International record: 52 caps (W 25, L 25, D 2; 175 pts - 35T)

10 James HOOK (OSPREYS - Cap No 1,047)
DoB: 27.06.85. 6'0" / 1.83m. 14st 3lbs / 90kgs
International record: 21 caps (W 7, L 13, D 1; 154 pts - 5T,27C,23PG,2DG)

9 Michael PHILLIPS (OSPREYS - Cap No 1,022)
DoB: 29.08.82. 6'3" / 1.91m. 16st 4lbs / 103kgs
International record: 29 caps (W 13, L 15, D 1; 20 pts - 4T)

1 Duncan JONES (OSPREYS - Cap No 997)
DoB: 18.09.78. 6'0" / 1.83m. 17st 8lbs / 112kgs
International record: 46 caps (W 19, L 25, D 2)

2 Huw BENNETT (OSPREYS - Cap No 1,017)
DoB: 11.06.83. 6'0" / 1.83m. 17st 5lbs / 110kgs
International record: 15 caps (W 8, L 7)

3 Adam Rhys JONES (OSPREYS - Cap No 1,018)
DoB: 08.03.81. 6'0" / 1.83m. 20st 5lb / 129kgs
International record: 45 caps (W 23, L 20, D 2; 5 pts - 1T)

4 Ian GOUGH (OSPREYS - Cap No 964)
DoB: 10.11.76. 6' 6" / 1.98m. 18st 9lbs / 118kgs
International record: 46 caps (W 19, L 24, D 3; 5 pts - 1T)

5 Ian EVANS (OSPREYS - Cap No 1,045)
DoB: 04.10.84. 6'8" / 2.04m. 18st 3lbs / 116kgs
International record: 9 caps (W 3, L 5, D 1; 5 pts - 1T)

6 Jonathan THOMAS (OSPREYS - Cap No 1,013)
DoB: 27.12.82. 6'5" / 1.96m. 17st 5lbs / 110kgs
International record: 40 caps (W 18, L 20, D 2; 35 pts - 7T)

7 Martyn WILLIAMS (CARDIFF BLUES - Cap No 944)
DoB: 01.09.75. 6'0" / 1.83m. 15st 13lbs / 101kgs
International record: 77 caps (W 34, L 40, D 3; 68 pts - 13T, 1DG)

8 Ryan JONES (OSPREYS, CAPTAIN - Cap No 1,029)
DoB: 13.03.81. 6'5" / 1.96m. 18st 0lbs / 114kgs
International record: 17 caps (W 9, L 7, D 1; 5 pts - 1T)

REPLACEMENTS

16 Matthew REES (LLANELLI SCARLETS - Cap No 1,033)
DoB: 09.12.80. 6'0" / 1.83m. 16st 9lbs / 106kgs
International record: 17 caps (W 6, L 10, D 1; 10 pts - 2T)

17 Gethin JENKINS (CARDIFF BLUES - Cap No 1,006)
DoB: 17.11.80. 6'2" / 1.88m. 18st 9lbs / 118kgs
International record: 54 caps (W 21, L 31, D 2; 15 pts - 3T)

18 Deiniol JONES (CARDIFF BLUES - Cap No 981)
DoB: 18.11.77. 6'5" / 1.96m. 18st 2lbs / 115kgs
International record: 3 caps (W 2, L 1)

19 Gareth DELVE (GLOUCESTER RUGBY - Cap No 1,043)
DoB: 30.12.82. 6'3" / 1.91. 17st 13lbs / 114kgs
International record: 4 caps (W 1, L 3; 5 pts - 1T)

20 Dwayne PEEL (LLANELLI SCARLETS - Cap No 994)
DoB: 31.08.81. 5'9" / 1.76m. 13st 8lbs / 86kgs
International record: 59 caps (W 25, L 32, D 2; 25 pts - 5T)

21 Stephen JONES (LLANELLI SCARLETS - Cap No 966)
DoB: 08.12.77. 6'1" / 1.86m. 14st 12lbs / 94kgs
International record: 66 caps (W28, L36, D2; 569 pts - 6T,106C,106PG,3DG)

22 Sonny PARKER (OSPREYS - Cap No 1,007)
DoB: 27.08.77. 6'1" 1.86m. 15st 13lbs / 101kgs
International record: 28 caps (W 13, L 15; 30 pts - 6T)

For further information please contact:
Simon Rimmer
National Squad Communications Manager
WRU Indoor Arena, Vale of Glamorgan Hotel, Hensol, Vale of Glamorgan, CF72 8JY
Email: srimmer@wru.co.uk
M: 07825 981 128
Tel: 01443 238 255
Fax: 01443 238 386