WARREN Gatland is confident that talisman Alun Wyn Jones will be fit to lead the charge in the key clash with England despite bolstering his second row options for the World Cup, writes Chris Kirwan.

The lock was forced off against Ireland last weekend after suffering a knee injury in the second half.

That led Gatland to naming five specialist second rows for England 2015 with Bath’s Dom Day surprisingly joining Jones, Luke Charteris, Bradley Davies and Jake Ball in his 31-strong squad.

Jones will not feature in the final warm-up against Italy on Saturday and is unlikely to make the World Cup opener against Uruguay on September 20.

However, Gatland has no qualms about throwing the Ospreys captain straight in against England the following Saturday.

“Alun probably won’t play between now and then and if we need to do some live stuff in training to make sure they get that physical contact we will,” said the head coach.

“He has enough rugby behind him and enough experience that he will rock up on the day. I thought two players who hadn’t played for five and a half months in Bradley Davies and George North looked pretty comfortable in Ireland.

“Those experienced players have the ability to step straight into the fold so I’m not worried.”

Wales have been drawn in a nightmare group with hosts England, bogey team Australia and dangerous Fiji, ensuring Gatland isn’t getting bogged down with avoiding tournament favourites New Zealand’s half of the knockout draw.

“Winning the group would be pretty nice but I’m not too worried about that, I just want to get out of the bloody thing,” he said.

“I am desperate to get out and would take my chances with anyone in a quarter-final.

“The great thing about this World Cup, and we saw it at the end of the Six Nations and in the Rugby Championship with Argentina beating South Africa, is that on their day there are seven or eight teams capable of winning this tournament.”

Gatland has mirrored Australia by naming just two specialist hookers - Scott Baldwin and Ken Owens - and could call up the jettisoned Richard Hibbard or Kristian Dacey as injury cover.

"A discussion that we’re going to have with the hookers is that if you’re out of a game, you may be out of the squad," he said.

"I promise you we won’t make up for fake injuries and it does put us in a situation. If we picked up an injury in the second row, we might replace them with a third hooker."

Wales squad

Props: Tomas Francis (Exeter Chiefs), Paul James (Ospreys), Aaron Jarvis (Ospreys), Gethin Jenkins (Cardiff Blues), Samson Lee (Scarlets).

Hookers: Scott Baldwin (Ospreys), Ken Owens (Scarlets).

Locks: Jake Ball (Scarlets), Luke Charteris (Racing 92), Dominic Day (Bath), Bradley Davies (Wasps), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys).

Back-rows: Taulupe Faletau (Newport Gwent Dragons), James King (Ospreys), Dan Lydiate (Ospreys), Justin Tipuric (Ospreys), Sam Warburton (Cardiff Blues, capt).

Scrum-halves: Gareth Davies (Scarlets), Rhys Webb (Ospreys), Lloyd Williams (Cardiff Blues).

Fly-halves: Dan Biggar (Ospreys), Matthew Morgan (Bristol), Rhys Priestland (Bath).

Centres: Cory Allen (Cardiff Blues), Jamie Roberts (Harlequins), Scott Williams (Scarlets).

Wings: Hallam Amos (Newport Gwent Dragons), Alex Cuthbert (Cardiff Blues), George North (Northampton Saints).

Full-backs: Leigh Halfpenny (Toulon), Liam Williams (Scarlets).