Four Newport Gwent Dragons players will represent Wales in next seasons World Cup with Kevin Morgan, Ceri Sweeney, Michael Owen and Colin Charvis all making the squad of 30 named by Gareth Jenkins.
Wales' most capped player and leading try scorer Gareth Thomas will have the honour of captaining Wales at the 2007 Rugby World Cup.
Thomas made his Wales debut in the opening Pool match of the 1995 tournament in South Africa and will take another Welsh record when he appears at his fourth World Cup campaign.
Thomas will be among a six-man Leadership Group identified by Wales coach Gareth Jenkins to spearhead the Welsh challenge in France. Among the six are two other players who have led their country, Stephen Jones, Michael Owen. The others in the group are Alun-Wyn Jones, Jonathan Thomas and Dwayne Peel.
Speaking on the captaincy issue, Gareth Jenkins said:
"Gareth Thomas has the captaincy credentials to take us where we need to go and his influence on and off the pitch is there for all to see.
"Myself, Stephen and Gareth have had long discussions on the subject and identified that Stephen's injury means he is not going to have the opportunity to influence the build up to the World Cup in the manner in which we would have wished him to do so.
"I have picked my captain based on the need to have a skipper who can fully influence the squad from today. Gareth is fully fit and raring to go and we are lucky to have someone of his calibre to call upon.
"Stephen's injury means that this is the right decision. He has expressed his own concerns about fulfilling the role knowing he won't be able to play in our next two games - matches that will be extremely important to our World Cup bid.
"He remains a vital part of this squad and his contribution, along with the rest of the Leadership Group, will be as invaluable as ever.
"If we are going to achieve our aims we are going to need the very best of what the likes of both Alfie and Stephen have to offer."
There are 19 players within the 30-man squad with previous Rugby World Cup experience and Colin Charvis, Martyn Williams and Stephen Jones will be going to their third World Cup.
Speaking about the difficulties of cutting his World Cup training group to 30, Gareth Jenkins said:
"We knew this wasn't going to be easy. But there is no more time for discussion - we have had to choose the best 30 players to represent us at the greatest rugby tournament in the world and we will be doing all we can to win the title.
"It's tough on those players who have missed out, especially as they have all worked so hard to make the grade. But we have our top 30 players and now we need the nation to fall in behind them to give them the best chance of success."
Speaking in general terms about his 30-man squad, Gareth Jenkins said:
"There is an exciting mix of experience, energy, professionalism and talent and we believe these are the players that can do Wales proud at the Rugby World Cup.
"We have players with big reputations and vast experience who have stepped up and shown us they want to be a part of what we are trying to achieve. Then we have players like Will James who has grasped his opportunity with both hands, put in the hard graft and quickly made himself a part of the squad.
"We know that Ian Evans has the talent we are looking for and it will be important for us to get him back to full match fitness. There has also been talk about players like Alun-Wyn Jones, Shane Williams and Tom Shanklin reaching their full potential at this tournament.
"But our message to the players has been that they are in this squad because we believe in them - they have all earned their places by right and now have a fantastic opportunity ahead of them.
"Every one of them has put in the groundwork. The stage is set and when their country needs them most, we know they will give their all.
"We are fitter and stronger than we have ever been before and are set to peak our conditioning levels just as the competition starts. The coaching team has been planning for this ever since we took over in April, 2006.
"All we need now is to gain some momentum from our Invesco Perpetual Summer Series games against Argentina and France at the Millennium Stadium later this month.
"In the excitement of this announcement it would be remiss of us not to respect the efforts of the group of committed players who have not made this selection.
"They are worthy men in their own right, they are the players who will provide us with World Cup back up and I think it's fair to thank them for their huge effort.
"One of the hardest jobs of the national coach is to exclude players and their humility and understanding to a man has been exemplary."
Gareth Jenkins has split his 30-man squad into 14 (backs) and 16 (forwards). His back division contains three scrum-halves - Dwayne Peel, Mike Phillips and Gareth Cooper - and three outside-halves - Stephen Jones, James Hook and Ceri Sweeney.
There are three specialist wings in Mark Jones, Shane Williams and Dafydd James with full-back Kevin Morgan adding his own versatility to that of his captain, Gareth Thomas, in providing cover across the back three. Tom Shanklin, Jamie Robinson and Sonny Parker are the specialist centres.
Up front, three hookers make the trip - Matthew Rees, T Rhys Thomas and Huw Bennett - and four props - Chris Horsman, Gethin Jenkins, Adam Jones and Duncan Jones.
New boy Will James joins Ian Gough, Ian Evans and Alun-Wyn Jones as the second row options, although Jones could also figure at flanker.
The back row contains three players with Welsh captaincy experience - Colin Charvis, Michael Owen and Martyn Williams - and they are joined by Alix Popham and Jonathan Thomas. Owen and Thomas are also able to play in the second row.
WALES 2007 RUGBY WORLD CUP SQUAD
Backs
1. Gareth Thomas (Cardiff Blues, captain)
2. Kevin Morgan (Newport Gwent Dragons)
3. Shane Williams (Ospreys)
4. Dafydd James (Llanelli Scarlets)
5. Tom Shanklin (Cardiff Blues)
6. Jamie Robinson (Cardiff Blues)
7. Sonny Parker (Ospreys)
8. Mark Jones (Llanelli Scarlets)
9. Stephen Jones (Llanelli Scarlets)
10. James Hook (Ospreys)
11. Ceri Sweeney (Newport Gwent Dragons)
12. Dwayne Peel (Llanelli Scarlets)
13. Mike Phillips (Ospreys)
14. Gareth Cooper (Gloucester Rugby)
Forwards
15. Michael Owen (Newport Gwent Dragons)
16. Martyn Williams (Cardiff Blues)
17. Colin Charvis (Newport Gwent Dragons)
18. Alix Popham (Llanelli Scarlets)
19. Jonathan Thomas (Ospreys)
20. Ian Evans (Ospreys)
21. Will James (Gloucester Rugby)
22. Alun-Wyn Jones (Ospreys)
23. Ian Gough (Ospreys)
24. Chris Horsman (Worcester Warriors)
25. Adam Jones (Ospreys)
26. Matthew Rees (Llanelli Scarlets)
27. T Rhys Thomas (Cardiff Blues)
28. Huw Bennett (Ospreys)
29. Gethin Jenkins (Cardiff Blues)
30. Duncan Jones (Ospreys)
The Wales team to play Argentina at the Millennium Stadium in the Invesco Perpetual Series '07 on Saturday, 18 August, is:
Wales: Kevin Morgan (Dragons): Dafydd James (Scarlets), Tom Shanklin (Blues), Gareth Thomas (Blues, captain), Mark Jones (Scarlets); James Hook (Ospreys), Dwayne Peel (Scarlets); Duncan Jones (Ospreys), Matthew Rees (Scarlets), Adam Jones (Ospreys), Ian Gough (Ospreys), Ian Evans (Ospreys), Jonathan Thomas (Ospreys), Martyn Williams (Blues), Alix Popham (Scarlets).
Replacements: T Rhys Thomas (Blues), Gethin Jenkins (Blues), Alun-Wyn Jones (Ospreys), Colin Charvis (Dragons), Mike Phillips (Ospreys), Ceri Sweeney (Dragons), Jamie Robinson (Blues).
