Ginger monster may breach 1,000

Neil Jenkins is poised to be reinstated by Wales against South Africa at the Millennium Stadium on Sunday when he will need just three more penalties to reach the four-figure mark.

Nobody has ever lasted long enough to accumulate 1,000 Test points but the Ginger Monster will expect to get there without further delay - assuming that coach Graham Henry decides against exposing Arwel Thomas to the physical onslaught posed by his Springbok opposite number, the pumped-up Percy Montgomery. Thomas admirers, of course, believe that Montgomery ought to be worried about the Welshman instead of the other way round, but Henry is unlikely to persist with what he sees as a high-risk policy, especially when it means keeping the best goalkicker in the world kicking nothing more than his heels. Jenkins, on the bench against Samoa's reserves and the American Eagles, is not the only No. 10 to lose his place. Andrew Mehrtens, fifth on the all-time list with 720 points from 47 Tests, has been replaced by Carlos Spencer for the All Blacks' match against Italy tomorrow. Even if he did kick away a bit too much possession in Marseille, Mehrtens' omission is still surprising - particularly as it comes just two weeks after New Zealand coach Wayne Smith had acclaimed him as 'a genius' for his huge contribution to the win over France in Paris.