NEWPORT Gwent Dragons flanker is surprisingly not in Wales' 22-man squad to take on Samoa this Friday night as was widely expected.

Andy Powell keeps his place on the blindside and Jonathan Thomas is on the bench.

Coach Warren Gatland has picked a strong side that includes just a few young players in the starting line-up such as Dan Biggar and Sam Warburton.

Wales team to play Samoa at the Millennium Stadium on Friday, November 13:

Team: J Hook (Ospreys); L Halfpenny (Cardiff Blues), T Shanklin (Cardiff Blues), J Roberts (Cardiff Blues), T James (Cardiff Blues); D Biggar (Ospreys), D Peel (Sale Sharks)

G Jenkins (Cardiff Blues), H Bennett (Ospreys), P James (Ospreys), A W Jones (Ospreys), L Charteris (Newport Gwent Dragons), A Powell (Cardiff Blues), S Warburton (Cardiff Blues), R Jones (Ospreys, capt).

Replacements: M Rees (Scarlets), C Mitchell (Ospreys), B Davies (Cardiff Blues), J Thomas (Ospreys), M Roberts (Scarlets), J Davies (Scarlets), M Stoddart (Scarlets).