Dragons full back Kevin Morgan has been named in the Welsh starting XV for their World Cup opening game against Canada on Sunday, while Dragons team mates Michael Owen and Colin Charvis have been named on the replacments bench.
Dwayne Peel will captain Wales for the first time in the match against Canada (Kick-off 1pm).
The 55-times capped British and Irish Lions scrum-half will be the 124th player to captain Wales in 578 Tests. He will also be the 18th Llanelli Scarlets player to lead his country.
The side features three changes from that which faced World Cup hosts France at the Millennium Stadium last month with props Adam Jones and Gethin Jenkins replacing Duncan Jones and Chris Horsman in the front row.
Squad captain Gareth Thomas is moved to the bench with his spot at inside centre taken up by Sonny Parker and Stephen Jones joins Thomas as a replacement after being declared fully fit and ready for action.
"Gareth (Thomas) put in three royal performances for us during August, but this is the first time Sonny Parker has been available to us to start a game so we are giving him a chance in the centre," said Jenkins.
"We have been saying for some time that we will use more than one captain during this tournament and Dwayne was always one of three players who will potentially captain the side at this World Cup alongside Gareth and Stephen.
"He is one of our identified leaders, a core member of the squad and the very definition of a professional rugby player.
"He will cope admirably with the responsibility of captaining his country. He follows in the footsteps of some great players and we know will do justice to the honour that has been bestowed upon him."
Eleven of Wales' starting line-up have previous world cup experience – with James Hook, Matthew Rees, Ian Gough and Alun-Wyn Jones the tournament debutants.
British Lion Michael Owen could also make his debut in the competition from the bench alongside hooker Rhys Thomas and scrum half Michael Phillips.
And, with Colin Charvis, Stephen and Duncan Jones and Gareth Thomas all providing cover from the bench the Wales 22 boasts 63 World Cup appearances between them - and if Thomas comes on, he will become the outright Welsh record holder for RWC appearances with 12 (currently joint holder on 11 with Ieuan Evans).
"Canada will be tough first-up opponents for us, but we must concentrate on refining our own game and it is time now for everything to begin to click in to place," added Jenkins
"We have been boosted by the news that Stephen Jones is fit again and raring to go and we will be hoping to give him some game time if the situation suits.
"We need to ask some questions of Sonny in the inside centre position and ensure that he has relevant game-time under his belt as we begin our campaign. If Gareth Thomas is struck down in training we need to know what we have available in that position.
"If we are going to be successful in this World Cup we will need to select from the talented bank of players we have at our disposal and we need to know we have the right personnel in place in the right positions to be able to contend with any eventuality.
"The combination of Adam and Gethin and Matthew is one that we have not tried through the summer and they have been given an opportunity to play together as a unit..
"We are absolutely clear this is going to be one of our toughest games. The Canadians have always represented themselves strongly in RWC tournaments, they have a lot of knowledge of us and they will have a tactical approach that will challenge us."
15 Kevin Morgan
14 Mark Jones
13 Tom Shanklin
12 Sonny Parker
11 Shane Williams
10 James Hook
9 Dwayne Peel (C)
1 Gethin Jenkins
2 Matthew Rees
3 Adam Jones
4 Ian Gough
5 Alun-Wyn Jones
6 Jonathan Thomas
7 Martyn Williams
8 Alix Popham
Replacements
16 T Rhys Thomas
17 Duncan Jones
18 Michael Owen
19 Colin Charvis
20 Michael Phillips
21 Stephen Jones
22 Gareth Thomas
