Wales coach Warren Gatland announces his squad for the Invesco Perpetual Series ’09 on Sunday and the stakes couldn’t be higher.
Lying ahead of his squad is a four match series that will see Wales play three teams who sit above them in the official IRB World Rankings and a fourth who will be rivals in their Rugby World Cup Pool in 2011.
1 SOUTH AFRICA 91.69
2 NEW ZEALAND 89.61
3 AUSTRALIA 85.15
4 IRELAND 83.27
5 FRANCE 81.48
6 ARGENTINA 81.29
7 ENGLAND 81.23
8 WALES 80.74
9 FIJI 76.52
10 SCOTLAND 75.23
11 SAMOA 73.48
12 ITALY 71.23
Bring on the mighty All Blacks, Samoa, Argentina and Australia – the Millennium Stadium is getting ready to serve up a feast of rugby with the games against New Zealand and Australia already sell-outs in the public areas.
The opening clash with the All Blacks on November 7 will give Wales another chance to end what is currently a 56 year wait for a victory over one of our biggest rivals.
The game also sees former national coaches Graham Henry and Steve Hansen returning to Wales, albeit in slightly different guises following a shake up in the coaching roles in the All Blacks’ camp.
Henry had been in charge of defence, but has switched roles with Hansen to look after the forwards – a job he last had with Wales.
He admitted after his first session this week that the line-out had become a bit more technical, saying, “It was ‘I want it at A, B and C’. It was never as searching as it is now.”
And he has brought in kicking coach Mick Byrne to help him in that area. Byrne is a specialist skills coach who also looks after the line-out for the Japanese Test team.
Henry said: “I’ve got great people around here. Steve Hansen’s done it all, he’s with me all the time. Mike Cron is a superb specialist coach and Mick Byrne is a very specialist skills coach, and he’s coaching the lineout in Japan.
“Plus I’ve got all these guys, very experienced Test players who can do a lot of peer coaching. I’m really just the guy who initiates it all, and throws my two bob’s worth in.”
INVESCO PERPETUAL SERIES ’09
Saturday, 7 November Wales v New Zealand (5.15pm)
Friday, 13 November Wales v Samoa (7.30pm)
Saturday, 21 November Wales v Argentina (2.30pm)
Saturday, 28 November Wales v Australia (5.15pm)
TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE – CALL 08442 777888
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