Wales v England, Six Nations Championship, February 14
Jones returns but injury doubts remain
Scrum.com
February 12, 2009

Wales skipper Ryan Jones has recovered from a calf strain and will lead his side against England in their Six Nations clash at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday.

Jones, who missed last weekend's 26-13 victory over Scotland, replaces Dafydd Jones at blindside for the Cardiff clash but news of his return was tempered by two major fitness concerns in wing Shane Williams and No.8 Andy Powell.

The prolific Williams has been named on the wing to face England but sat out training today and will require a fitness test on the ankle injury he picked up during last Sunday's match at Murrayfield. Gatland rates his chances of playing as "50-50" and should he be ruled out of the game then Scarlets wing Mark Jones will slot straight into the side.

Blues powerhouse Powell retains the No.8 jersey but is another injury worry after pulling up in training today with a tight calf muscle. Wales' fitness staff will give the injury time to settle before making a proper assessment. Should Powell not make it then skipper Jones will likely move to No.8, with Dafydd Jones returning at blindside.

Ospreys centre Gavin Henson again misses out due to a calf strain - the eighth successive Test he has missed through injury Henson's absence means that Tom Shanklin and Jamie Roberts will continue their impressive centre partnership from last weekend. Elsewhere, Stephen Jones and Mike Phillips continue at fly-half and scrum-half respectively.

Gatland has given Williams an extra day to prove his fitness such is his value to the side and England manager Martin Johnson will be hoping that the diminutive winger does not recover in time.

"We have given Shane until tomorrow because he's a bit of a talisman for us," said Gatland. "I think he had 20-odd touches against Scotland last weekend, which for a wing is pretty exceptional. He is the biggest concern - he's probably 50-50.

"Andy is probably 90-10 in favour of being fit. It's just a tightness of the calf, and hopefully it will ease up for tomorrow's captain's run."

Gatland is expecting a big performance from England, with Andy Goode putting the Welsh set-piece under as much pressure as possible.

"We expect a set-piece game, with England happy to kick a lot of ball out and to compete at lineouts," he said. "England tend to play a couple of phases, then play a bit of heads-up rugby after that. After those two phases, it looks a little bit disjointed. But when it is backs-to-the-wall stuff and everyone is writing you off, it's a great position to turn up to a game in.

"They have picked quite a physical team, they will be good at the lineouts, they have got some good ball-carriers and they will play a lot of territory. (For) England, at the moment, it is about getting a result, rather than performance, and then trying to build after getting a few wins.

"We are trying to be smart with the way we play. At times we play territory, and we also try to keep the ball on the park and be positive. I think there is an obligation, sometimes, in professional sport to entertain a little bit. If you want to compete long-term with the best teams in the world, you've got to be positive in the way you play because ultimately that's the way the game is. I think referees have quite a significant impact on that as well.

"A referee going out with two fairly even teams and one is trying to play rugby and one is not, then the team that is not playing rugby tends to get the worst end of the stick in terms of penalties and yellow cards. Perhaps that's a little bit where England are at the moment."

Gatland though is well aware of the dangers of writing England off, and is cautious not to overstate his side's chances.

"How many times has it happened in the past where people have rocked up to see a Welsh team expecting to win, and they've gone away disappointed?" he said. "If we play to our potential, we've got a good chance of winning, but there are two teams involved here. One team is smarting from a lot of criticism of recent performances and a lot of criticism of the coaching set-up and stuff.

"I think they will come out really looking to put us under pressure. Their backs are to the wall, and if they come away from there, then not just us, but everyone, will get the old two fingers up and they can jump on the bus and go away pretty satisfied."

Wales: Lee Byrne; Leigh Halfpenny, Tom Shanklin, Jamie Roberts, Shane Williams; Stephen Jones, Michael Phillips; Gethin Jenkins, Matthew Rees, Adam Jones, Ian Gough, Alun-Wyn Jones, Ryan Jones (captain), Martyn Williams, Andy Powell

Replacements: Huw Bennett, John Yapp, Luke Charteris, Dafydd Jones, Dwayne Peel, James Hook, Andrew Bishop

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