Wales pick kids in England gamble

Jason Leonard: will make his 111th appearance for England

Chris Jones|Evening Standard|In Brisbane

14 April 2012

England will face the Welsh young guns who nearly pulled off a World Cup sensation against New Zealand when they meet in Sunday's quarter-final.

Wales coach Steve Hansen has taken a massive gamble by sticking with his team of kids who gave the All Blacks such a fright.

"England are the complete side and have the best defence in the competition," Hansen said. "This match will be won up front and we have to meet fire with fire.

"This was the hardest selection I have ever made. The players have been chosen to follow a certain plan and we are going to keep our fingers crossed that it works.

"England have put a lot of money, time and effort into trying to win the World Cup and are under a lot of pressure, while we have nothing to lose. The history of this match doesn't have any relevance and we will try and create our own piece of history."

To underline how inexperienced the Welsh pack is, England's front row boast 167 caps - two more than their opponents' entire scrum. Hansen has opted for the raw promise of prop Adam Jones, lock Brent Cockbain and flanker Jonathan Thomas, who have played just 15 Test matches between them.

Only captain Colin Charvis (63), hooker Robin McBryde (29) and prop Iestyn Thomas (27) have played more than 20 times for their country.

In contrast, England have Jason Leonard at prop, who is equalling Philippe Sella's world record of 111 appearances, and their forwards have played 419 Tests going into this quarter-final.

The entire English squad enjoyed a day of relaxation in Brisbane today. Clive Woodward headed to the golf course as the city started to turn red and white, with thousands of fans arriving for the match.

Hansen has made four changes - one enforced - from the team beaten 53-37 by the All Blacks last weekend, with full-back Gareth Thomas, centre Iestyn Harris, wing Mark Jones and flanker Dafydd Jones joining the players who gave Welsh rugby some much-needed pride.

Hansen said: "Expectation in Wales has gone through the roof and that's understandable. Some of the boys stuck their hands up against New Zealand and they are going to have to stand up and be counted again."

Mark Taylor, who will form a new midfield partnership with Harris, said: "This is England versus Wales and there is no bigger game.

"It will be huge challenge for us to repeat the form we showed against the All Blacks. We now have to pull out a performance that exceeds that one."

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