Charteris wins first Wales start

Changes galore for Romania

Dragons lock Luke Charteris will make his first Wales start in Friday's Test with Romania, pairing up with Gareth Llewellyn in a re-shuffled forward pack.

Wales coach Mike Ruddock has rung the changes following his side's 38-36 loss to South Africa on Saturday.

Gethin Jenkins starts at prop, Mefin Davies comes in at hooker, and Michael Owen moves to No.8 from lock.

Prop Duncan Jones and hooker Steve Jones, both of whom started against the Springboks on Saturday, are dropped to the bench, while No.8 Ryan Jones has been ruled out with a dead leg. Charteris replaces Brent Cockbain who injured his shoulder against the Boks.

In the backline, Tom Shanklin gets the nod at centre ahead of Sonny Parker, and Rhys Williams replaces his namesake Shane on the wing.

Meanwhile, Ospreys back rower Jonathan Thomas, who missed the Springbok game because of suspension, is also among the replacements, while Dragons scrum-half Gareth Cooper replaces Mike Phillips as the back-up to Dwayne Peel.

The rationale behind selection for this match is to firstly beat Romania, secondly work on combinations which could improve us as a team and finally to ensure we look at all options before finalising the side for the All Blacks test and beyond, said Ruddock.

In particular the second row pairing was something we were looking to implement for this match regardless of the injury to Brent.

"We want to have another look at Michael at No.8 and Gareth, whilst providing an experienced cool head and guiding hand for Luke, has a real opportunity to play himself into contention for the New Zealand game.

We have no worries about Lukes relative inexperience, I personally coached him for a year at the Dragons and know his game better than most. 

"We have no doubt that he can take his game forward and learn from the likes of Gareth and Michael Owen in line-out terms.

The front row changes were again planned as we look for the best man for the job in the context of selection for our next match.  With that in mind, Gethin will move over from loose-head to tight-head at some stage in the game.

Ultimately by the end of the Autumn series we are looking for victories from our last three games and to have gained enough knowledge about the players under the pressure of international rugby to identify the best 22 for the Six Nations and beyond.

There is no doubt that this is a must win match for us. Romania are a much improved team in recent times with strong forwards and an impressive set piece and driving game. 

"They have a new French coach who is hugely respected and strong links to top French clubs, including many players in top flight rugby over there.

Its not going to be an easy day at the office for us by any means and we must continue to improve our performances.  In a lot of ways the Friday night game has helped us because we have a shorter training week and we have an opportunity to get  straight back into action after disappointment against the Boks. 

"We hope the Welsh public can get behind us in large numbers on Friday night to watch their exciting and ever improving national side.

Wales: 15 Gareth Thomas (captain), 14 Rhys Williams, 13 Tom Shanklin, 12 Gavin Henson, 11 Hal Luscombe, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Dwayne Peel, 8 Michael Owen, 7 Colin Charvis, 6 Dafydd Jones, 5 Luke Charteris, 4 Gareth Llewellyn, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Mefin Davies, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Replacements: 16 Steve Jones, 17 Duncan Jones, 18 Jonathan Thomas, 19 Martyn Williams, 20 Gareth Cooper, 21 Ceri Sweeney, 22 Sonny Parker.

Kick-off: 19.00 GMT