Wales v Argentina: Teams
Wales have made nine changes to the side that defeated England last week for their final warm-up game.
Last Updated: 19/08/11 1:47pm
Ryan Jones will captain Wales in their final World Cup warm-up game against Argentina at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday.
With Matthew Rees ruled out of the World Cup due to a neck injury and current captain Sam Warburton rested, Ospreys number eight Jones takes the reins.
Wales coach Warren Gatland has made nine changes from the side that beat England 19-9 in Cardiff three days ago.
There are first starts of the three-Test World Cup preparation period for full-back Lee Byrne, wing Leigh Halfpenny, scrum half Tavis Knoyle, hooker Richard Hibbard, prop Adam Jones and flanker Martyn Williams, who wins his 99th cap.
And on the bench, Sale Sharks' back-row forward Andy Powell will be looking for a final chance to impress Gatland before the 30-man World Cup squad in announced next Monday.
Class act
Dragons flanker Dan Lydiate made his Wales debut against the Pumas 21 months ago and is looking forward to facing them again.
"I had 10 minutes against Argentina the first time I played for Wales, so I am really looking forward to Saturday," he said.
"They are very direct, their centres, and (fly-half) Felipe Contepomi is a class act. He's a dangerman, so we have to keep him quiet as best we can because he will run the show for them.
"Their back-row is full of big and powerful men, so we have got to be able to match them. There are similarities between England and Argentina when it comes to size. They are all very big, powerful men.
"It's hard to say whether they are more athletic than the English back-row but, if they have more footwork, they are going to be a lot harder to stop than players just running straight, playing one-up rugby."
Argentina coach Santiago Phelan will field a virtually full-strength side for the World Cup warm-up against Wales on Saturday.
The starting line-up, led by stand-off Felipe Contepomi, could be the same side that takes on England in their World Cup opener in Dunedin on September 10.
The only regular missing is former Harlequins centre Gonzalo Tiesi, who is sidelined with a shoulder injury, with Marcelo Bosch taking his place.
Prop Juan Figallo scrums down with front row veterans Rodrigo Roncero and Mario Ledesma, who were part of the squad that claimed third place in the 2007 finals.
Argentina, who had it easy in a 78-15 romp against a weak South America XV 10 days ago, play their final warm-up match against Worcester on Tuesday.
Wales:15 L Byrne (Clermont Auvergne), 14 L Halfpenny (Cardiff Blues), 13 J Davies (Scarlets), 12 J Roberts (Cardiff Blues), 11 G North (Scarlets); 10 J Hook (Perpignan), 9 T Knoyle (Scarlets); 1 P James (Ospreys), 2 R Hibbard (Ospreys), 3 A Jones (Ospreys), 4 B Davies (Cardiff Blues), 5 A-W Jones (Ospreys), 6 D Lydiate (Newport Gwent Dragons), 7 M Williams (Cardiff Blues), 8 R Jones (Ospreys, captain).
Replacements: 16 H Bennett (Ospreys), 17 R Bevington (Ospreys), 18 A Powell (Sale Sharks), 19 J Tipuric (Ospreys), 20 L Williams (Cardiff Blues), 21 S Jones (Scarlets), 22 A Brew (Newport Gwent Dragons).
Argentina: 15 Martin Rodriguez, 14 Horacio Agulla, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Santiago Fernandez, 11 Gonzalo Camacho, 10 Felipe Contepomi (captain), 9 Nicolas Vergallo; 8 Juan Fernandez Lobbe, 7 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 6 Julio Farias Cabello, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Manuel Carizza, 3 Juan Figallo, 2 Mario Ledesma, 1 Rodrigo Roncero.
Replacements: 16 Agustin Creevy, 17 Martin Scelzo, 18 Mariano Galarza, 19 Alejandro Campos, 20 Alfredo Lalanne, 21 Nicolas Sanchez, 22 Juan Imhoff.
