Wales skipper sets new record

Wales captain Alun Wyn Jo n e s will become rugby’s most capped international tomorrow with a record 149th Test appearance.

Jones, who has made nine Test appearances for the British and Irish Lions, will win his 140th Wa l e s cap in the rearranged Guinness Six Nations finale against Scotland in Llanelli.

The 35-year-old Ospreys second row had equalled New Zealand’s Wo r l d cup-winning skipper Richie McCaw’s 148-cap mark against France last weekend.

Current Lions head coach Warren Gatland worked closely with Ospreys lock Jo n e s during a 12-year reign as Wales supremo, which included appointing him captain.

“I am not surprised that he has reached this milestone, and I am also not surprised by the longevity of his career,” Gatland said.

“He is unbelievably respected by the players – the example that he sets at training, the high expectations that he has on himself.

“At training you will call a lineout or a scrum or a next play, and he runs off and he is the first one there setting the example.

“That honesty really comes through with his own performances. He doesn’t hide away from anything, and that’s why he has so much respect from the players.

“He is an unbelievable competitor. He’s smart in the way that he plays, and that experience of knowing when to go hard in terms of kickchase, the physicality that he brings in the contact area and the breakdown. He leads very much by example.”

Wa l e s show six changes from that 38-21 friendly defeat in Paris with a debut handed to Cardiff Blues back-rower Shane Lewis-Hughes.

And Will Rowlands, fresh from playing in the Gallagher Premiership final with Wasps, makes his first start in the second row alongside skipper Jones.