Harris eagerly awaits Wales squad announcement

Wales coach Steve Hansen names his World Cup squad later today and for centre Iestyn Harris the announcement cannot come soon enough.

Former rugby league star Harris is almost certain to win a place in the 30-strong party for Australia – a fact confirmed by his superb performance during Saturday’s 23-9 win over Scotland – but he has still felt the tension team-mate Michael Owen had revealed.

“The players have worked extremely hard over the past five weeks and now it comes to crunch time,” said the three-quarter, who kicked five penalties against Scotland.

“Michael Owen summed it up perfectly when he said that all you can do when you are waiting for the decision is sit by the phone. That is what everyone will have been doing.

“A lot of players are on the edge. Steve has probably pencilled in about 27-28 names and the remaining places are the ones that players will be worried about.”

Second-row Owen also boosted his selection hopes after touching down in the 63rd minute on Saturday with a nifty jink which was almost as impressive as his support work following Tom Shanklin’s defence-splitting break.

Captain Colin Charvis, who atoned for a miserable performance against England the previous weekend, led the assault as Wales continued their mini revival following a recent run of 10 straight Test defeats.

Last Wednesday’s victory over Romania ended that barren spell but the triumph over Scotland at the Millennium Stadium was a far more satisfying result, not least because their Six Nations rivals fielded a battery of top names.

“We were pleased with the win over Romania but Scotland are a different kettle of fish – they are a top side and you must play well to beat them. To get the result when we had such little possession was a testament to our heart,” said Harris.

“Recently we have put in some performances which are not up to scratch and most of the squad would agree with that. But now we have got a little bit of confidence under our belts for the World Cup which was what we needed.”

In contrast Scotland, who had have been buoyed by a promising summer tour to South Africa and their drubbing of Italy last weekend, will have seen their confidence knocked by a toothless display against Harris’ side.

Their inability to capitalise on strong field positions, a deficiency which cost them dear during this year’s Six Nations, was on full view once again as they failed to cross Wales line despite a glut of possession.

That was partly due to Wales’ heroic defence – five Welsh players topped the game’s tackle count – but coach Ian McGeechan will have realised his team must discover the ruthless streak needed to compete at the World Cup.

Veteran Gregor Townsend misfired at fly-half and the appearance of Chris Paterson in that position in the 72nd minute suggested the Edinburgh winger might be used more frequently at number 10 – an idea given credence by McGeechan.

“I warned Chris that he might come on at fly-half,” said McGeechan who has one more warm-up match against Ireland before he must pick his World Cup squad.

“It’s unlikely that we would ever look to start with him but he’s an option and he’s happy with that. He's a great player and very dangerous one-on-one, making him very useful when games open up.”