Clubless Charvis to lead Wales World Cup charge

Colin Charvis has no club, no consistency of form and precious little support from certain sections of the Welsh rugby community. What he does have, though, is the World Cup captaincy. Steve Hansen, the national coach, yesterday re-appointed the 30-year-old flanker to the position following discussions with a second back-row forward, Martyn Williams of Cardiff Blues, who had been expected to shoulder the burden in Australia next month.

A reluctant leader at the best of times, Williams informed Hansen of his view that Charvis would make a better fist of it. "I don't have the best record as captain - played four, lost four, only one decent performance - and Colin has more experience," Williams explained. "I feel better now that he has taken the job on. I believe he is the man to do it." For his part, Hansen praised Williams for his "great honesty".

Given their current plight - their performance against an England shadow side in Cardiff last month was unimaginably bad - it is no great surprise that the Welsh should find themselves turning to a player who has effectively priced himself out of the domestic club market and would not be going to the World Cup at all but for a private sponsorship deal with the owners of a Cardiff restaurant. Hansen values Charvis as one of his few world-class players, but it is only eight months since he relieved him of the captaincy following a calamitous Six Nations defeat in Italy.

Over the last year and a half, Charvis has been the most controversial figure in the Welsh game. He has been dropped for disciplinary reasons at both club and Test level and has waged a bitter war with his critics in the public prints. But when the force is with him, as it was in the last World Cup warm-up match against Scotland, he is some player. Everything will depend on which side he chooses to vacate his hotel bed in Wallaby country.

"This means a lot to me," Charvis said. "You have to take the highs and lows in sport and the lows can be fairly catastrophic. But everyone suffers knocks in life and you cannot take every knock to heart. It is important now to concentrate on what lays ahead of me - the World Cup - and not look beyond that. There is a hell of a lot of honour involved in being captain of Wales. It is a great thing for my family and myself."

Scotland are waiting for developments on contrasting problems surrounding two of their World Cup backs. Gregor Townsend, the most decorated Scot of them all, damaged a knee while training with the Borders club this week and may require minor surgery before flying to Australia.

In addition, Nikki Walker is in urgent need of some help from his country's court system if he is to travel south. The 21-year-old wing is due to appear at Jedburgh Sheriff Court next month on two charges of assault arising from an incident at the Ewe and Lamb pub in Hawick. If he fails to secure an adjournment, his tournament will be over before it even begins.

Almost unnoticed, the English Premiership season begins this evening with an attractive match between Sale and Northampton at Edgeley Park, the home of Stockport County and Sale's new centre of operations. The Cheshire club are sticking with Friday night rugby - Saturday afternoons are a tad difficult, what with Manchester United playing all of a mile up the road - and believe their change of venue will generate a significant increase in attendances.

World Cup demands mean that many of the biggest hitters from both clubs - Jason Robinson, Matt Dawson, Paul Grayson, Ben Cohen - will be absent. However, the Scotland captain, Bryan Redpath, has been named among the Sale replacements, as he needs some meaningful activity after a troublesome few weeks on the injury front. The influential scrum-half hurt his elbow during his country's summer tour of South Africa and has not played since.

Braam Van Straaten, the former Springbok goal-kicker who has made the trans-Pennine journey from Leeds, is also struggling for fitness, and misses out tonight. Jos Baxendell will fill in at outside-half.