Rugby World Cup 2011
Priestland misses out on semi
2011-10-13 06:52
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Rhys Priestland will miss Wales' RWC semi-final (File)
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Wellington - Rhys Priestland, one of an emerging Wales team's shining stars at the World Cup, will miss Saturday's semi-final against France because of injury.
The Scarlets fly-half has failed to recover from a shoulder injury sustained in the 22-10 quarter-final win over Ireland.
His playmaking role will now be taken by James Hook, Wales's full-back in their opening two pool games before a shoulder problem interrupted his World Cup, with veteran fly-half Stephen Jones named on the bench.
The rest of the team announced Thursday is unchanged from that victory over the Irish which saw Wales advance to a World Cup semi-final for only the second time since the inaugural tournament in 1987.
Sam Warburton captains the side from openside flanker alongside blindside Dan Lydiate and No 8 Toby Faletau.
The front row features Adam Jones and Gethin Jenkins propping up Huw Bennett, while Alun-Wyn Jones and Luke Charteris are the two locks.
Hook will be serviced by Mike Phillips at scrum-half, Jamie Roberts and Jonathan Davies pairing up in midfield, with Shane Williams and George North on the wings. Leigh Halfpenny gets his second start at full-back.
Teams:
Wales:15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Shane Williams, 10 James Hook, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Sam Warburton (captain), 6 Danny Lydiate, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Luke Charteris, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Huw Bennett, 1 Gethin Jenkins.
Substitutes: 16 Lloyd Burns, 17 Paul James, 18 Bradley Davies, 19 Ryan Jones, 20 Lloyd Williams, 21 Stephen Jones, 22 Scott Williams.
France:15 Maxime Medard, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Aurelien Rougerie, 12 Maxime
Mermoz, 11 Alexis Palisson, 10 Morgan Parra, 9 Dimitri Yachvili, 8
Imanol Harinordoquy, 7 Julien Bonnaire, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (captain), 5
Lionel Nallet, 4 Pascal Pape, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 William Servat, 1
Jean-Baptiste Poux.
Substitutes: 16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Fabien
Barcella,18 Julien Pierre, 19 Louis Picamoles, 20 Francois Trinh-Duc,
21 David Marty, 22 Cedric Heymans.