Wales attack coach Nigel Davies has demanded those players picked today to play against Japan must "set higher standards" after a disappointing World Cup opening.

Davies admitted Wales are "still finding" themselves as a team but there are still likely to be a number of changes from the defeat to Australia at the weekend.

Lock Ian Evans is set to play his first rugby in 10 months with Jamie Robinson ready to come into the centre following injuries to Sonny Parker and Gareth Thomas.

Davies said: "We believe we have a very talented squad. There are people who are chomping at the bit at the moment.

"There are people who deserve opportunities and we want them to raise the bar and set higher standards.

"Within that, we want to keep a spine of a team and experience in there which gives us good continuity but energises the team."

Wales are also set to reveal whether Thomas' World Cup is over after he suffered rib cartilage damage against the Wallabies.

Thomas feared the worst yesterday - "my gut feeling is that I am out for six weeks" - and that could signal the end of his Test career, stuck on 99 caps.

But the Wales medical and coaching staff were reserving judgement until after he had a scan.

"The scan will define whether there is any hope of him playing again in this tournament," said Davies.

"At this moment in time we are more than happy with the cover we have got in the squad, even with the two injuries, and we don't feel any pressure at the moment to call anybody in or put anybody on high alert.

"There is no need to panic."

One possible replacement for Thomas would be Llanelli Scarlets centre Gavin Evans, though no decision had been taken last night.

Gavin Henson would appear an obvious choice given he has a huge kicking game and can cover both inside centre and fly-half, but he has still not played enough rugby to convince the Wales coaching team.

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