LONDON — Wales’s hopes of front-row domination against England in their opening Six Nations match this weekend suffered a setback yesterday when hooker Matthew Rees was ruled out with a groin injury.

Rees was expected to pack down in an all-British and Irish Lions front row with Gethin Jenkins and Adam Jones against an inexperienced England trio on Saturday, but has been replaced by Gareth Williams, who will win his eighth cap on his third start.

In the team, announced by coach Warren Gatland, Lee Byrne was named at fullback, after winning an appeal on Tuesday against a two-week ban for his role as the “16th man” in the Ospreys’ recent Heineken Cup victory over Leicester.

His availability — having missed the November internationals with a foot injury — enabled Gatland to move James Hook to outside centre, his first international start in the position in his 38th game, alongside powerful Lion Jamie Roberts.

In the absence of first-choice scrumhalves, Mike Phillips and Dwayne Peel, Gareth Cooper starts, with uncapped Richie Rees providing bench cover for the position.

Tom James was preferred to Leigh Halfpenny on the right wing, with Shane Williams on the left.

“Gareth Williams has been in great form for his region and produced some impressive performances in recent weeks,” Gatland said in a statement, having delayed naming his team until the outcome of Byrne’s appeal.

“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 well at number eight for the Ospreys and Andy Powell settling into the blindside role with some great performances for the Blues.”

Wales travel to Twickenham for the match, looking for their fourth successive win over England.

“Through the whole squad we are looking for the players to step up on Saturday,” said Gatland.

“We have 10 players in the starting line-up who were with the Lions in South Africa in the summer, and now is the time for those individuals to show the confidence and leadership qualities which that trip produced.” — Reuters.