Pool B Wales v Australia: Gareth Jenkins yesterday settled the question of who should play outhalf for Wales, if only temporarily, by picking Stephen Jones to replace James Hook for the pivotal game against Australia tomorrow, before launching into an attack on those he said had tried to destroy his chosen man.
During the announcement of the team, which sees the return of the captain Gareth Thomas at fullback and Colin Charvis as blindside flanker, the Wales head coach kept his feelings under control, but later he said: "Certain papers target him and one paper in particular tried to destroy Stephen.
"What disappoints me is that they try to discredit a person who is a credit. He has had to deal with a lot of horrible stuff, horrible stuff, but he's got through that because he is the person he is."
Jones's return is reward for the 35 minutes he played in Wales's pool match against Canada. Coming on with Wales 17-9 down, he replaced Hook and turned the deficit into a 25-point victory.
Jenkins said he had been equally impressed by Jones's analysis of the match at half-time when he pointed to poor game management - a criticism of Hook, but Jenkins was careful not to blame the 22-year-old.
Jenkins admits tomorrow's game is the biggest since he took charge 16 months ago. It is also the most important since Wales won the Six Nations two-and-a-half ago, so the return of the "old heads" - between them Jones, Thomas and Charvis have 251 caps - is understandable.
Even if they beat Japan and Fiji, defeat by the Wallabies is likely to mean a trip to Marseille for a quarter-final against the winners of Pool A, which includes South Africa, England and Samoa.
Hook is on the bench tomorrow, along with Kevin Morgan, who is replaced at fullback by Thomas, and Alix Popham. Martyn Williams had been expected to lose out to Charvis, but Jonathan Thomas moves from flanker to number eight instead.
This summer Wales were beaten twice by Australia, but drew at the Millennium Stadium in November and beat them there in 2005. "We have gone through practically every emotion possible in our last four meetings with them," said Jenkins, whose focus has been on this game since he became the Wales coach. "We respect them, but we do not fear them."
- Guardian Service
WALES: G Thomas (Cardiff Blues, capt); M Jones (Llanelli Scarlets), T Shanklin (Cardiff Blues), S Parker (Ospreys), S Williams (Ospreys); S Jones (Llanelli Scarlets), D Peel (Llanelli Scarlets); G Jenkins (Cardiff Blues), M Rees (Llanelli Scarlets), A Jones (Ospreys); I Gough (Ospreys), A-W Jones (Ospreys); C Charvis (Newport-Gwent Dragons), M Williams (Cardiff Blues), J Thomas (Ospreys). Replacements: T R Thomas (Cardiff Blues), D Jones (Ospreys), M Owen (Newport-Gwent Dragons), A Popham (Llanelli Scarlets), M Phillips (Ospreys), J Hook (Ospreys), K Morgan (Newport-Gwent Dragons).
Wallabies warned to be on best behaviour
The Wallabies have been warned to be on their best behaviour in tomorrow's match after a crackdown on foul play. Australia coach John Connolly has told his players they cannot afford to take any chances after five players from other teams were suspended in the first week of competition.
Connolly said he supported the IRB's clampdown on violent play and had put the Wallabies on notice.
"I think the world of rugby, the IRB particularly, are trying to put a marker in this tournament for the future of the game for what's accepted and not accepted," Connolly told reporters. "I think in this day and age we can't criticise that whatsoever."
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