WALES will be without their inspirational captain, Jonathan Humphreys, when they face France tonight at the Cardiff Arms Park.
Humphreys has a hamstring injury and is replaced by the Neath hooker, Barry Williams.
Williams (22) makes his international debut and Mike Voyle, the Llanelli lock, who has one cap, plays his first Test at the Arms Park. The lack of international experience in the Welsh pack is emphasised by the choice of Kingsley Jones as a back-row replacement for the injured Hemi Taylor for what will be his second international.
The captaincy goes to the experienced Llanelli centre, Nigel Davies, though his club-mate, Ieuan Evans, who led Wales 28times in 64 Tests, would also have been a strong candidate for the post. Gareth Llewellya, the Harlequins' lock, who won several of his 48 caps as skipper, is pack leader. "Nigel is totally in tune with the type of game we're trying to play; he has a hands-on style," Terry Cobner, the WRU's director of rugby, said.
Wales, who beat the Barbarians with a bit to spare in Cardiff last month, will be seeking a substantial improvement in continuity and passing, though that may prove hard to achieve against the quick-moving French.
Surprisingly the French have chosen not to award caps against a nation that has defeated them in their last two visits to Cardiff. Instead the French coach, Jean Claude Skrella, will use the fixture to experiment with combinations.
However, Kevin Bowring, Wales's coach, has no illusions about the difficulty and the importance of the fixture, which has been rightly recognised by the WRU as worthy of caps.
The French line-up seems likely to include the powerful Brive halfback partnership of Philippe Carbonneau and Alain Penaud, the outside-half left out of yesterday's World Cup squad. As Penaud said: "The fact that we are tested against different opponents week in week out, which demands different tactical and technical options, is highly significant. When you play for France you practise with your half-back partner only three or four times a season but at club level it becomes automatic."
France's midfield pairing of Richard Dourthe and Stephane Blas will return to Cardiff only a month after playing there together for the Barbarians. Like the rest of the French squad both men know Test places and lucrative contracts for the rest of the season are up for grabs.
