Preview - Wales v Romania

Tourist face torrid time in Cardiff

Wales have targeted this game as a 'must-win'. They have stressed that they will need to see off the Romanians with a big score, and they need to do it in style, opening up their backline to score tries. They could not be more right ... because anything less will have the Welsh faithful putting their new red jerseys into storage, muttering about false dawns.

Romania is a side made up largely of players from the French Second Division, with only a few taking part in top-flight rugby on a regular basis.

Wales is a fully professional side who have consistently failed to knock over top teams, after playing themselves into positions of doing exactly that - just take their Test against South Africa last week.

Wales have put together a number of strong performances over the last 12 months - beginning during the World Cup against New Zealand and then England - but have failed to build on that momentum.

Against the Oaks, the Welshmen will need to up their tempo further and dish out a thumping if they hope to go into the All Blacks Test with any sort of confidence.

Wales coach Mike Ruddock has named a team mixed with some young stars and grizzled veterans to do the job for him. And this is no better illustrated by the second row pairing of Gareth Llewellyn, Wales' most-capped player, and 21-year-old giant Luke Charteris who will be making his first start for the team.

Charteris is seen by Ruddock as a player with an enormous future in Welsh rugby, but he is also raw and needs to learn the finer arts of Test rugby. Who better then to teach him the tricks of the trade than the 35-year-old Llewellyn? Who, for lack of a better term, will act as Charteris's nanny against a tough Romanian pack.

Romania, meanwhile, have enjoyed a fruitful season. Finishing second in the European Nations Cup (or Six Nations 'B' if you prefer) and then upsetting Italy in Bucharest, beating the Azzurri 25-24 courtesy of a last-minute penalty by fly-half Ionut Tofan. 

And the Oaks have beaten Wales on two occasions - a fact that the Welsh would gladly forget ever happened - but that was a long time ago (in 1983 and '88 the first two meetings between the teams) and since then Wales have racked up 261 points, conceding just 50, in their last five matches.

The same is to be expected when the Romania run out onto the grass at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday. Wales will be out to prove a point and they will be merciless in their quest to secure a big win. But they will have to make sure that they do not lose focus on the job in hand - they already have one eye seemingly focussed on the All Blacks next week.

Players to watch:

For Wales: Giant lock Luke Charteris's rapid rise in Wales was halted for a year because of a serious knee injury, but at 21-years-old he still has plenty of time to cement his claim for the Dragon. Standing a massive 6 feet 9 inches, Charteris is the embodiment of 'tall timber' - the second tallest player in Wales' history - and he will give the dangerous Welsh runners out wide plenty of ball to run with. He lacks experience, but with Gareth Llewellyn packing down with him in the second row, he will have a wily old campaigner to teach him the ropes.

For Romania: Scrum-half Lucien Sirbu was one of the stars of Romania's World Cup campaign last season and will be sure to test the Welsh defence around the fringes. Veteran centre Romeo Gontineac is also well worth a look, his legs are not what they used to be, but the former skipper has years of Test rugby behind him and can still be a slippery customer.

Head to head: Adam Jones (Wales) v Petru Balan (Romania): Wales' tight five have been identified as a major weakness of late - and barring their final scrum against South Africa on the weekend that has not been rectified. Romania will be looking to unsettle the Welsh up front. Jones is no pushover, however, weighing in at 120kg, and he will give as good as he gets.   

Prediction: Wales will win, and win well.
Planet Rugby Prediction: Wales by 30 points
Sportingodds.com Prediction: Wales by 44 points

Recent Results:

In 2003: In Wrexham: Wales won 54-8
In 2002: In Wrexham: Wales won 40-3  
In 2001: In Cardiff: Wales won 81-9   
In 1997: In Wrexham: Wales won 70-21 
In 1994: In Bucharest: Wales won 16-9   
In 1988: In Cardiff: Romania won 15-9  
In 1983: In Bucharest: Romania won 24-6

The teams:

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.

Romania: 15 Valentin Maftei (Aurillac), 14 Vasile Ghioc (Dinamo Bucuresti), 13 Cristian Sauan (Rugby Rovigo), 12 Romeo Gontineac (Aurillac), 11 Ioan Teodorescu (U Cluj), 10 Ionut Tofan (Metro Racing), 9 Lucian Sirbu (Metro Racing), 8 Alin Petrache (Beziers, captain), 7 Alexandru Tudori (Perigueux), 6 Costica Mersoiu (Perigueux), 5 Cristian Petre (Tarbes), 4 Florin Tatu (Steaua Bucuresti), 3 Marcel Socaciu (Rugby Rovigo), 2  Bogdan Zebega (Steaua Bucuresti), 1 Petru Balan (Biarritz Olimpique).
Replacements: 16 Razvan Mavrodin (Tarbes), 17 Bogdan Balan (Bordeaux Begles), 18 Valentin Ursacheo (Contor Zennerarad), 19 George Oprisororo (Perpignan), 20 Iulian Andrei (Steaua Bucharest), 21 Flavius Dobre (Dinamo Bucharest), 22 Ionut Dimofte (Contor Zennerarad).

Date: Friday, November 12
Kick-off: 19.00 GMT
Venue: Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Conditions: Partly cloudy, High 9°C, Low 3°C
Referee: Kelvin Deaker (New Zealand)
Touch judges: Lyndon Bray (New Zealand), Carlo Damasco (Italy)
Television match official: Dave Pearson (England)