Prydie to become youngest Welsh international

Tom Prydie will become Wales' youngest international when the 18-year-old wing turns out for their closing Six Nations match against Italy in Cardiff.

The Ospreys man, who will also be the youngest player to feature in the tournament just 27 days after his birthday, replaces Leigh Halfpenny in one of five changes made to the starting line-up after last weekend's 27-12 defeat by Ireland.

Wales' previous youngest international was wing Norman Biggs, capped in 1888 at 18 years and 50 days.

The youngest player in the Six Nations until now was England's Mathew Tait, who featured two days before his 19th birthday.

"Tom has been with us for the duration of the campaign, he was one of two youngsters -- brought in alongside Kristian Phillips -- who we wanted to have a look at and we've been impressed with him," Wales coach Warren Gatland said in a statement early today (NZ time).

"He is the fastest player in the squad, he can play at fullback as well as on the wing and he is not afraid to tackle so we'll see how he goes."

Ryan Jones is reinstated as captain after missing the Ireland match with a calf injury while Gethin Jenkins, Mike Phillips and Sam Warburton are brought in.

Jenkins replaces Osprey Paul James, who is on the bench, with Wales reuniting their all-Lions front row for the first time since the 2009 Test series against South Africa.

Phillips takes over from Richie Rees, with Dwayne Peel keeping his place on the bench to provide scrumhalf cover. Warburton was chosen ahead of Martyn Williams in the back row and Jones replaces Gloucester's Gareth Delve.

"At scrumhalf we are conscious that we need three players to all be pushing each other for a starting place and we have been happy with what we have seen from Richie Rees this tournament," said Gatland.

"Dwayne is being given another chance, we want him to make an impact from the bench and improve on his showing last time out."

Gatland expected Italy to be tough opponents.

"We found it hard to break them down here two years ago and they have performed well in each game of the tournament so far and with a good win over Scotland under their belts we will be a target for them," he said.

Wales and Italy have each won one of their four matches in this year's championship and are out of the running for the title. Leaders France, with eight points, are going for a grand slam, while defending champions Ireland are second on six.

Wales: 15-Lee Byrne, 14-Tom Prydie, 13-James Hook, 12-Jamie Roberts, 11-Shane Williams, 10-Stephen Jones, 9-Mike Phillips, 8-Ryan Jones (captain), 7-Sam Warburton, 6-Jonathan Thomas, 5-Luke Charteris, 4-Bradley Davies, 3-Adam Jones, 2-Matthew Rees, 1-Gethin Jenkins

Replacements: 16-Huw Bennett, 17-Paul James, 18-Ian Gough, 19-Gareth Delve, 20-Dwayne Peel, 21-Andrew Bishop, 22-Tom Shanklin

- Reuters