Henry forced to put faith in a new back line

Graham Henry is hardly the most radical selector on the union beat; had Dan Luger not collided with Neil Back during a Lions' training session in Sydney in the summer, there is no guarantee the coach would have given Jason Robinson the opportunity to startle the oval-ball world with his try in the first Test against the Wallabies. Still, necessity is the mother of invention, as Henry demonstrated yesterday by naming a Wales team full of pace and adventure for this weekend's Six Nations' match with Ireland at the Millennium Stadium.

The presence of Stephen Jones at outside-half, Shane Williams on the wing, Geraint Lewis at No 8 and, most notably, the 21-year-old Cardiff centre Jamie Robinson in midfield, does not signal any profound change in philosophy by the headmasterly tactician from New Zealand. Far from it: Henry is every bit as conservative now as he was when he arrived in the Principality three years ago. But with Neil Jenkins, Gareth Thomas, Scott Quinnell and Mark Taylor on the casualty list, he had to get 15 bodies from somewhere.

As it turns out, this latest Red Dragon manifestation should be well worth a look, irrespective of the result. Failure may be a possibility, but it is difficult to imagine them failing ingloriously, given the straight-line speed and imaginative brilliance at their disposal. Lewis is not the most robust No 8 around, but he is probably the most creative to be found in these islands. Williams, meanwhile, returns to the top level after being given what might be called the Arwel Thomas treatment: too small, and therefore too much of a risk. It is good to see him back.

However, the real interest surrounds Robinson, who must confront the outside centre who lit the blue touchpaper for the Lions on that famous June night in Brisbane, Brian O'Driscoll. "It is a challenge for Jamie, to be sure," admitted Henry, "but he's a talented fellow, his club form is good and anyway, the defensive patterns we use nowadays mean we do not see the kind of one-on-one contests that were common years ago. I won't make a secret of the fact that Gareth Thomas would have played at centre had be not been injured (Thomas fractured a cheekbone during Bridgend's Heineken Cup defeat at Castres last Saturday) but this new back division has a certain something about it."

Cardiff's David Young is expected to recover from an ankle injury in time to captain the side on his 50th Test appearance. His three sons – Thomas-Rhys, Lewis and Owen – will be the team mascots, so Henry has the added bonus of a spare front row if his first-choicers go belly-up against Keith Wood and company.

Meanwhile, the Bristol coach Dean Ryan has been summoned before a Rugby Football Union disciplinary panel tomorrow week to answer charges arising from his criticism of the London referee Tim Miller following their Premiership draw with London Irish last month.

WALES SQUAD (v Ireland at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday): K Morgan (Swansea); D James (Bridgend), J Robinson (Cardiff), A Bateman (Neath), S Williams (Neath); S Jones (Llanelli), R Howley (Cardiff); I Thomas (Ebbw Vale), R McBryde (Llanelli), D Young (Cardiff, capt), C Wyatt (Llanelli), A Moore (Swansea), C Charvis (Swansea), B Sinkinson (Neath), G Lewis (Swansea). Replacements: B Williams (Neath), C Anthony (Newport), C Quinnell (Cardiff), G Thomas (Bath), G Cooper (Bath) or D Peel (Llanelli), G Henson (Swansea), R Williams (Cardiff).