A NECK strain ended Dwayne Peel's hopes of ousting Gareth Cooper for the No. 9 spot against the All Blacks.

The former Scarlets scrum-half was being widely tipped to start against New Zealand on Saturday after two impressive appearances off the bench in the opening two matches of the autumn series.

However, coach Warren Gatland has revealed that Peel wasn't able to train for two days at the start of the week and that persuaded him to keep faith with Cooper.

"Dwayne didn't train for the first couple of days because of a neck strain, while Gareth is also the incumbent and played pretty well against South Africa," explained the New Zealander.

"Dwayne has done well in the last couple of games he has played and we are looking at him coming off the bench if we want a change of direction. He has that ability to be able to change a game because of his experience."

Gatland also revealed that scrum-half wasn't the only area where there was a healthy selection debate.

Gorseinon's Leigh Halfpenny won the nod over experienced Scarlet Mark Jones because, in Gatland's words, 'he is the form wing in Wales'. There is a surprise on the bench with the inclusion of Dragons lock Luke Charteris in place of Grand Slam winner Ian Gough while, intriguingly, Gatland also revealed there was a discussion over the make-up of the back-row and that included whether to pick skipper Ryan Jones.

"The message we are sending out is it doesn't matter who you are, you've got to perform. There is no guaranteed selection week in, week out," he said

As for fly-half James Hook, the coaching team will wait until tomorrow to decide whether he has overcome his knee problem to take his place among the replacements.

Ospreys rookie Dan Biggar, who made his international debut off the bench against Canada last weekend, is standing by to step in.

Hook limped off early on in the win over the Canucks and, while he appeared to be walking around the team hotel pretty comfortably yesterday, the vibes from Gatland did not appear too promising.

"James has made an improvement, but he knows he has to be 100 per cent," added Gatland.

"Dan Biggar had a really good introduction on his debut against Canada and it could be a good thing having a youthful, fearless approach on the bench."

In the only other change from the 22 that faced South Africa, John Yapp replaces the injured Duncan Jones.

Robert Lloyd