Peel ready for 'special' landmark

Dwayne Peel will become the youngest Wales player to reach 50 caps when he runs out against Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday.

At 25, the Llanelli Scarlets player will have achieved the feat at a younger age than other Welsh stars, including fellow scrum-half greats like Gareth Edwards, Robert Jones and Rob Howley.

In the world game, only the likes of Jonny Wilkinson and Australia’s Joe Roff will have beaten him to the landmark.

Saturday’s RBS 6 Nations clash will see Peel become the 17th Wales player to join the 50-club – the fifth in the current squad along with skipper Stephen Jones, Gareth Thomas, Martyn Williams and Colin Charvis.

And he expects it to be an emotional afternoon at Murrayfield.

“It’s a special moment and I’ll be very, very proud,” he said.

“I was capped when I was 19 [as a replacement against Japan in 2001] and there has been a lot of rugby since then.

“We have experienced some highs and lows in that time. I think we went 10 games without a win but there have been the highs, with the Grand Slam two years ago.”

Peel’s most imminent challenge comes on Saturday when Wales will be out to beat Scotland and put behind them Sunday’s opening 19-9 defeat to Ireland.

“It’s another challenge for us on Saturday and we will play against a Scottish side who will have their tails up after losing [to England] last Saturday,” added Peel, expected to be in the Wales line-up unveiled at lunchtime today.

“We can take the positives out of the Ireland game but we will also take the negatives from the defeat.

“Scotland are totally different to Ireland. They probably throw it around more, a bit like us. They like to get the offloads going and that’s when they can be dangerous.

“We have to combat that and make sure our defence is right on the money.

“We have to have belief and we are efficient. I think we will do well.”

Peel said it would be too much to ask to repeat Wales’ victory at Murrayfield in the 2005 Grand Slam season when they went in 38-3 at half-time before winning 46-22.

He said: “It was one of those days when everything went our way in the first half – we had the bounce of the ball and everything clicked. I don’t think we will have many halves of rugby like that again.”

Wales coach Gareth Jenkins paid tribute to Peel ahead of his landmark appearance.

“He played a great game on the weekend. I thought his all-round contribution was of experience,” said Jenkins.

“He played like a 50-cap scrum-half, and that is the kind of responsibility he actually has to carry.

“When you get to 50 caps, you are a big cog in the team. He is up there with the main Welsh team play-makers and we expect that type of consistency out of Dwayne, and I’m sure we will get that again on Saturday.”