WHEN I saw Warren Gatland's Wales squad for the RBS 6 Nations, the biggest surprise was to see Martyn Williams among the list of names.

I was shocked that Martyn had come out of retirement.

Wales have struggled for strength in depth, andmaybe this has highlighted that fact.

But Martyn is on top form and is a class act - that's the important thing - and Warren obviously thinks he's worth keeping on board.

It now looks like his decision to retire from international rugby was slightly premature. Only Martyn knows if it was, but he looks a good addition to the squad.

It was a shrewd move by Gatland to lure him back. He was outstanding for the Barbarians against South Africa in December - a match containing a host of world-class players -- and that proved he can still operate at the highest level.

He's been brilliant for Cardiff as well, and Warren didn't want one of his best players retiring.

Martyn will be an asset to the squad, as he has been throughout his entire playing career.

Another surprise was the appointment of Martyn's back row colleague, Ryan Jones, as captain.

He has overcome a series of injury problems, and has led from the front for the Ospreys this season. His biggest target now is staying out of the treatment room.

The most important thing when determining who should be skipper is that the successful candidate must be assured of his place in the team. Ryan is guaranteed to start if he is fit.

Ospreys lock Alun Wyn Jones was another possible candidate, while Martyn Williams could do the job, although maybe the fact he retired counted against him.

But there were not really that many players putting their hands up for the job.

One player who has done the job in the past is Stephen Jones, but he has suffered from the fact he has not been playing much for Llanelli, and is likely to lose out to James Hook for the No.10 jersey. The fly-half battle has seen James edge ahead, chiefly because his Ospreys side are playing well in Europe. They have dominated in the forwards, and this has made life easier for him.

Stephen Jones has not seen much game time, so that settles the debate in James' favour.

James needs more experience as he's still naive in some aspects of his play, but in terms of being a quality fly-half, he's the real thing.

Outside him lies one of the great conundrums facing Gatland, who must decide how best to realise Gavin Henson's potential.

Everyone knows Gavin is a very talented player. Some people said he was out of favour under previous coach Gareth Jenkins, but that was not true. It was just that Gavin had not played much, which made selecting him difficult.

If Gavin is playing well, then he is a great asset to Wales.

He is very powerful, can get over the gainline, is a great distributor, and has a good kicking game.

He has the presence at inside centre that Wales need. But his priority must be to get time under his belt, which he has been doing.

There is a lot more to come from Gavin, but he needs time on the pitch for that to be realised.

11:49am Tuesday 5th February 2008

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