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CARDIFF - Gareth Thomas will captain Wales at the World Cup, it was announced on Friday.
Thomas leads a 30-man squad chosen by under-pressure coach Gareth Jenkins, who had wanted outside-half Stephen Jones to lead the side in France.
But Jones is currently sidelined with a groin injury which means he will not feature in any of Wales' warm-up matches.
Thomas will captain Wales from the inside centre position when they continue their World Cup warm-up program against Argentina at the Millennium Stadium a week on Saturday.
There are 12 changes from the side that suffered a record 62-5 defeat against England at Twickenham last weekend with only Thomas, wing Dafydd James and centre Tom Shanklin retained.
Ospreys lock Ian Evans, meanwhile, makes his first appearance since suffering a dislocated shoulder last December.
Thomas is both Wales' most capped player and leading try scorer.
He led Wales on their recent tour to Australia and took charge of the team against England at Twickenham last weekend in the absence through injury of Stephen Jones.
The Llanelli No 10 is expected to be fit for consideration Wales' opening Pool B match against Canada in Nantes on September 9.
"Gareth Thomas has the captaincy credentials to take us where we need to go and his influence on and off the pitch is there for all to see," said Jenkins.
"Myself, Stephen and Gareth have had long discussions on the subject and identified that Stephen's injury means he is not going to have the opportunity to influence the build up to the World Cup in the manner in which we would have wished him to do so.
"I have picked my captain based on the need to have a skipper who can fully influence the squad from today (Friday).
"Gareth is fully fit and raring to go and we are lucky to have someone of his calibre to call upon," added Jenkins, who has won just three out of his 14 games in charge of Wales.
Jones has a fight on his hands to be Wales' starting No 10 at the World Cup with the talented James Hook in that position for the Argentina match.
There are 19 players within the 30-man squad with previous Rugby World Cup experience and Colin Charvis, Martyn Williams and Stephen Jones will be going to their third World Cup.
Wales' best performance at a World Cup was the semi-final spot they achieved at the inaugural tournament in 1987 where they lost to hosts and eventual champions New Zealand.
Despite last week's thrashing, Jenkins added: "We are fitter and stronger than we have ever been before and are set to peak our conditioning levels just as the competition starts."
- AFP
