Gatland goes for Hook

Warren Gatland has turned to James Hook to inspire Wales to Grand Slam glory in the Six Nations decider against France on Saturday.

Ospreys fly-half selected for Six Nations decider

Wales coach Warren Gatland has turned to James Hook to inspire his side to Grand Slam glory in the RBS Six Nations decider against France on Saturday. The Ospreys fly-half has got the not ahead of Stephen Jones for title showdown in Cardiff despite starting the last two matches on the bench. However, Gatland has opted to go for the flair of Hook over the kicking qualities of Jones. Gatland has also recalled hooker Huw Bennett after he missed the 16-12 Triple Crown victory over Ireland at Croke Park after going down with the 'flu. Gatland said: "We have an historic opportunity and we intend to grasp it with both hands. "We have afforded ourselves the luxury of bringing in James Hook for the different qualities he will offer in this match, but we have pretty much said 'same again' to the boys that brought home the silverware on Saturday. "Stephen Jones will offer us the benefit of his vast experience from the bench and he is one of a number of players who can come on and change the game for us if necessary.

Confident

"Huw Bennett comes in for Matthew Rees but, as I've said previously, there are marginal selection decisions to make all over the field and hooker is the perfect example of one of them. "We are confident, we have worked hard and if we continue in the same vein in which we started this campaign, we believe we can come away with a deserved victory on Saturday." Wales go into the match with one hand already on the Six Nations trophy, with France needing to win by at least 20 points if they are to spoil the party in Cardiff. However Gatland is focussed solely on winning. "It will be nice if we can take the championship, but we'd like to be doing it with a win over France," said Gatland. "To win on points difference would be something of a hollow victory. "We have already achieved something in this campaign that can't be taken away from us, but we have an opportunity now to push on and do something a little bit special in front of our home crowd and to put some more smiles on Welsh faces for the second time in eight days." Wales: 15 L Byrne (Ospreys), 14 M Jones (Llanelli Scarlets), 13 T Shanklin (Cardiff Blues), 12 G Henson (Ospreys), 11 S Williams (Ospreys), 10 J Hook (Ospreys), 9 M Phillips (Ospreys), 1 G Jenkins (Cardiff Blues), 2 H Bennett (Ospreys), 3 A Jones (Ospreys), 4 I Gough (Ospreys), 5 AW Jones (Ospreys), 6 J Thomas (Ospreys), 7 M Williams (Cardiff Blues), 8 R Jones (Ospreys, capt).
Replacements: 16 M Rees (Llanelli Scarlets), 17 D Jones (Ospreys), 18 I Evans (Ospreys), 19 G Delve (Gloucester), 20 D Peel (Llanelli Scarlets), 21 S Jones (Llanelli Scarlets), 22 S Parker (Ospreys).