Wales' England preparations hit by Rees injury

Coach Warren Gatland delayed announcing his team to wait for a decision on Byrne (GETTY IMAGES)

Wales have suffered an injury blow ahead of Saturday's RBS 6 Nations opener against England with Lions hooker Matthew Rees sidelined for the Twickenham clash.

Rees has been ruled out with a recurrence of groin trouble, so Cardiff Blues' Gareth Williams packs down in the front-row alongside props Gethin Jenkins and Adam Jones.

Full-back Lee Byrne starts after winning an appeal last night against a two-week ban imposed on him following his brief appearance as an illegal 16th player during Ospreys' Heineken Cup victory over Leicester 11 days ago.

And Byrne's availability means Wales coach Warren Gatland is able to field a centre partnership of James Hook and Jamie Roberts.

Had Byrne been sidelined, then Hook would probably have continued in the number 15 shirt he wore during Wales' autumn Tests this season.

Elsewhere, Tom James edges out his Blues colleague Leigh Halfpenny for the right-wing role, while Blues scrum-half Gareth Cooper also starts, filling the vacancy created by injuries to Lions number nines Mike Phillips and Dwayne Peel.

Williams wins his eighth cap after being called up to Gatland's squad following impressive domestic and European form this season.

But while the loss of Rees is a blow, Wales can still head to Twickenham with a powerful side in pursuit of a fourth successive Six Nations victory over England.

Gatland's starting XV features 10 players who toured South Africa with the British and Irish Lions last summer, boosted by Byrne and Adam Jones both returning after missing the autumn games through injury.

And for Hook, it is a first start at outside centre during a 37-cap Test career that has seen him represent Wales at full-back, inside centre and fly-half.

The bench, meanwhile, contains one uncapped player in Blues' former London Irish scrum-half Richie Rees.

Gatland said: "Gareth Williams has been in great form for his region and produced some impressive performances in recent weeks.

"We are obviously disappointed for Matthew, but he returned to us with a sore groin after playing at the weekend and he has not responded as quickly as we would have liked to treatment.

"Gareth is surrounded by a wealth of experience, not just in the front-row but throughout the forwards.

"We have a pretty settled pack at the moment, with our captain (Ryan Jones) playing particularly well at number eight for the Ospreys and Andy Powell settling into the blindside role with some great performances for the Blues."

Gatland delayed his team announcement from Sunday until today in the hope Byrne would become available.

And after successfully quashing his suspension, it has given the Wales camp a huge lift prior to departure for their Richmond base later today.

Wales attack coach Rob Howley said: "Over the last 10 days or so we have run with two different teams with both Lee and James Hook taking a turn at full-back, but you have to respect the professionalism of both players and indeed of the whole squad.

"We have not let the doubt over Lee's availability disrupt things, but it was always going to be a boost to be able to name the first choice Lions full-back in the side.

"There are obvious repercussions throughout the back-line too, as we have been able to select James Hook at centre in partnership with Jamie Roberts.

"We tried Jamie at outside centre in the autumn mainly due to injury problems elsewhere in the squad, but he is back in his preferred position and we are excited about seeing James in this new international role as well.

"James has the skill-set to play in a variety of positions, and you sometimes feel like you just have to find a role for him, but we think we may have found his position."

Wales team to play England in the RBS 6 Nations Championship at Twickenham on Saturday:

L Byrne (Ospreys); T James (Cardiff Blues), J Hook (Ospreys), J Roberts (Cardiff Blues), S Williams (Ospreys); S Jones (Scarlets), G Cooper (Cardiff Blues); G Jenkins (Cardiff Blues), G Williams (Cardiff Blues), A Jones (Ospreys), A-W Jones (Ospreys), L Charteris (Newport Gwent Dragons), A Powell (Cardiff Blues), M Williams (Cardiff Blues), R Jones (Ospreys, capt).

Replacements: H Bennett (Ospreys), P James (Ospreys), B Davies (Cardiff Blues), J Thomas (Ospreys), R Rees (Cardiff Blues), A Bishop (Ospreys), L Halfpenny (Cardiff Blues).